Revenge and Afterward
by Lystee
Summary: During a botched attempt on Itachi's life, Sasuke's revenge leads him back to Konoha. They may agree to help him there, but will Naruto's new mission lead him further away from Sasuke or show him what he's always wanted? Maybe a new destiny... SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **I'm just trying my hand at multi-chapter stories. I beg you to review and tell me what you like/don't like. Although this story will introduce an OC, I promise you she will not be shipped with any character at all. Tell me what you think, either way. And tell me if you think I should continue or not.

**Disclaimer: **From this chapter to the end, understand that I **do not**in any way, shape, or form, own **Naruto**. Heh, I wish. Because then I would ship SasuNaru like whoa. XD

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**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 1:  
The Battered Wind Ninja**

The sun was setting in the forest, not that it mattered to Naruto. He'd almost found him, had he only been a little quicker. Then maybe he would have found Sasuke. Maybe he wouldn't have been too late.

His heightened emotions were making him jump from tree to tree faster and faster, his heart thumping against his chest.

"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi said from a few trees behind the blonde. "Next time."

A growl came from deep in Naruto's throat before answering, "Definitely next time."

Sakura gave Kakashi a worried glance before turning her concentration back on Naruto. Kakashi's eye crinkled up in a smile. "Don't worry, Sakura. We'll just re-evaluate our game plan."

They traveled a while longer, Sakura feeling as if her legs were slowly turning to jelly the more she jumped. Finally, Kakashi must have had enough too.

"We'll rest here for tonight. It's nearly the half-way mark." Naruto grunted in response before dropping down to the forest floor. He was standing with his back to his team mates, trying to force himself to calm down.

"Naruto, you want to help me get some water?" Sakura asked, digging the canteens out of her bag.

The blonde turned around, instantly putting a fake smile to his face. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan!" He grabbed the canteens from her hand and began his walk to the stream he'd seen earlier.

Sakura walked back toward Kakashi, who was busy trying to start a fire. She sat down beside him, exhausted and frustrated. "Kakashi-sensei…do you think Naruto will be okay?"

Kakashi stopped what he was doing to face her. "He's frustrated, but I think he'll be okay. It will be his determination that finally draws that boy back, you know."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Sakura said, putting her chin in her hand and staring at the forest floor.

Naruto knelt down by the stream, dipping the canteen into the water, filling it to the brim before removing it and dipping another one, repeating the cycle. He had one for each of them by the time he was done. He heard a rustle in the bushes behind him, and quickly drew a kunai while eyeing the bush cautiously. The rustling grew louder and louder as whatever was making the noise made its appearance.

A small red fox popped its tiny head out, making a whimpering sound.

"Aw, little guy…are you lost?" Naruto asked, sheathing his kunai and leaning down. The small fox crept over, crawling gingerly into Naruto's lap and lying his head down. Naruto smirked and tentatively reached a hand out to pet the baby fox's head. "You're kind of cute, you know."

The bush rustled again, this time producing three more baby foxes and a bigger mother fox. A blonde eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of the mother, not sure of whether this would be a friendly visit or not. To his surprise, however, the mother simply walked over and sniffed her baby before giving Naruto's hand a light lick.

"You…you're alright with me holding him?" Naruto questioned the fox, getting another light lick in response. Shrugging, Naruto continued petting the baby. The others soon started to crawl on him, nipping and licking playfully.

After a while, the mother fox made a 'mewing' sound, causing all of her babies to stop and jump off of him. She made her way to Naruto and took one of his pant legs in her mouth, dragging him toward a clearing. He stood up, not really knowing what else to do, and followed her.

His steps were awkward, not wanting to tramp on the babies as they swarmed around him, still nipping him playfully. The mother fox led him into a part of the forest that had a beautiful view. Flowers bloomed almost everywhere, save for a dirt path that forked before him. Around one very large oak tree was a circle of blue irises blowing slightly in the breeze; a beautiful mixture of blue, green, and red.

_Wait, red?_ Naruto thought. The mother fox nipped at his ankle and walked over to the circle of irises before glancing back at Naruto, expecting him to follow her. He followed to where the fox sat, staring at something red in the flowers.

The tuft of red happened to be hair, hair belonging to a young girl – no older than Naruto himself – lying face down in the flowers. She looked as if she'd gone through a war with the dirt and grime coating her face and body. He suddenly was very happy Sakura had forced him through the tiny bit of medical jutsu training she could get him to sit still for. He felt for a pulse and gave a relieved sigh when he felt a slight lub-lub. Slowly, he lifted her up in his arms, holding her gingerly, and walked her back to where Kakashi and Sakura were waiting. They were not going to believe this one…

Sakura was pacing through the camp, glancing at the direction Naruto had taken.

"Sakura, calm down, please." Kakashi sighed, feeling as if he'd said that a million times that day, to both Sakura and Naruto.

"He's been gone a while, hasn't he?" It was as if Sakura hadn't heard the jounin as he talked, making said jounin shake his head in exasperation. He didn't have time to answer, however, as the sound of heavy footsteps entered the clearing. Sakura raised her head to see who it was, only to have her eyes grow wide at the sight. "Naruto…what…"

"Look what I found." Naruto said, lying the young girl down on his bedroll, which was already laid out. He figured Sakura had done it while he was gone.

"Where did you find her?" Sakura asked, immediately taking a position beside the girl, examining her with medical jutsu. "She's got chakra depletion and exhaustion. She'll be fine in a few hours, I think, but she really should be in a hospital."

"But she will be okay?" Naruto asked, while kneeling beside Sakura.

"Yeah. Where'd you find her?"

"There was a clearing in the woods over there. Some foxes led me to her." At this, his two team mates just raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, there were, like, five of them."

"Nothing you say surprises me anymore." Kakashi said.

"We can't have normal missions with Naruto, Kakashi-sensei. You should realize that by now." This received a glare from Naruto and a chuckle from Kakashi.

"What you trying to insinuate, Sakura?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke.

"Nothing, just that you're unpredictable." She didn't even look at him as she spoke, having since memorized his facial expressions through the years. She did, however, smirk.

It was a few hours later when the young girl woke up, being held on Naruto's back. The wind whipping through her hair showed her just how quickly they were traveling. Feeling her move, Naruto stopped on the next branch before setting her on the tree limb. He turned to face her, seeing a purely confused expression.

"You okay?" He asked as Sakura and Kakashi stopped behind him.

She didn't say anything at first, just trying to make out whom they were and what they wanted from her.

Naruto turned to look at his team mates, confused on what to do next. Kakashi leaned down and tried his hand at it.

"We are ninja from Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. You can trust us; we promise we will not harm you." As he talked, the girl eyed his headband. Slowly, her hands went to her forehead, but there was no piece of metal anywhere up there. Figuring she'd lost it in the fight; she dropped her hands back down to her sides and sighed.

"Leaf Village ninja, huh?" Her green eyes met Kakashi's eye for a moment, the sadness she was feeling almost overwhelming. "Dad always said if I ever met anyone from there I should trust them. I owe it to him to listen…so is that where you're taking me?"

"Yes, if that's okay with you." Sakura smiled.

"Yeah, I don't have anywhere else to go…" Her voice trailed off at the end, cracking as it went. A tear leaked down her cheek, only to be quickly wiped away.

"You want me to carry you the rest of the way?" Naruto asked only to get the waved off as she stood up.

"I think I'm fine. I can feel my chakra's back so I can keep myself going." She was bracing herself against the tree she was sitting against, but she fought herself to stand on her own. Once fully standing on her own free will, she said, "Yup, fine. Let's go."

----

The cave was dark and damp, but it was all Itachi Uchiha had left. The Akatsuki was gone, as was any hope of returning to his village. So he sat now in this damp cave trying to salvage any hope he could find. And, to top it all off, the family's Sharingan legacy was falling around him; he was going blind.

It was said, in those books and scrolls in that stuffy Uchiha archive, that overuse of the Sharingan would in turn make the yielder blind. The use of the Mengekyou would almost double the chances of the side effect. Since Itachi had long since kept his Sharingan activated at, almost, all times and used his Mengekyou on a semi-regular basis, his side effects were coming at a young age. Too young for him to handle. He'd made far too many enemies by joining that group to be at such a disadvantage, such a handicap.

The cave had several candles, most of which needed re-lit every few minutes due to dripping water. He found a small desk, which he had stuck against one wall, and he covered it in scrolls and books he'd killed many people for; all of them pertaining to one topic, the one power he now needed more than ever.

Striking a deal with the devil seemed to be fruitful. Kabuto had his useful points, all of which Itachi expertly exploited. And coupled with the fact he had Orochimaru's power and madness, bringing a small village to its knees would be child's play. The blindness was setting in slowly, and he figured he still had a few more weeks until his handicap became permanent. He was also sure he'd have his new power way before that became an issue.

The eldest remaining Uchiha didn't count on his younger brother becoming strong, however, or becoming an excellent strategist. When the side of the cave came crashing down behind him, Itachi wasn't ready for it, he barely dodged the barrage of people who came crashing in with it. Sasuke stood back, waiting for his team mates to slowly take Itachi down before he dealt the final blow.

But, as everything else in Sasuke Uchiha's life, nothing went like planned. Itachi, still having use of his full Sharingan power, took his team down one by one. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu flew unbound in that cave, sending walls and earth flying everywhere. Sasuke formed the hand signs for his chidori, the blue chakra lighting up the dark, damp cave. He went running toward Itachi, getting a vague pang of déjà vu. Said pang of déjà vu caused Sasuke to misplace the blow by a few inches, inches which Itachi took advantage of. Grabbing his brother around the throat, he threw Sasuke toward the opposite wall and teleported himself out. He knew in his head that, in his current state, Sasuke could beat him. But, as always, his brother was too hot-headed to think clearly and made a very calculated mistake.

Sasuke got up, shaking the debris off his clothing and looking around at his fallen comrades. The three he specifically chose because of the power they held had fallen at his brother's hands. Growling deep in his throat, the raven haired teen turned on his heels, making for an exit to this damn cave. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he saw the plethora of scrolls and books lining the one wall. Curious, he walked over to them and began flipping through the pages and unraveling the parchment. One word was repeated several times in each text: Ayamagan.

Over the next few hours, he attempted to decode the text in hopes of understand what his brother was so interested in. This was all in vain, as most of the text was in an ancient language Sasuke had never seen. Sighing, Sasuke ran his hands through his raven hair. He knew what he had to do; he was just trying to figuring out something _else_ to do. But, deep down he knew there was no other way. The only person who could read this was in Konoha.

Gathering up some of the scrolls and books, he stuffed them in a backpack and sighed.

"Guess I'm going home."

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So, what'cha think? Two more chapters to get your feel for this story. If, after that, you think I should continue, please let me know. Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 2:  
Itachi's Problem and Ayame's Flashback**

"You're late." The man in the black cloak growled out, bringing a shaking hand to his hood and removing it. His scarred face, consisting of only half his own face and half a more snake-like one, showed his frustration and boredom. He had been waiting for over three hours.

"I had something to deal with first." Itachi said with his voice calm and even.

"And it was more important than this damn meeting? You set it up, bastard!" Kabuto took a step forward, only to meet the black and red pinwheel of Itachi's Mengekyou. "Sorry, sorry…I forgot you are so damn cranky."

"Your mannerisms have changed since he took over you."

"Yeah, well dealing with constant pain will do that to you." The silver haired man spat out, leaning against the railing of the bridge they decided to meet on.

Itachi grew bored quickly of Kabuto's constant bad mood and decided to change the subject. "Didn't you forget to bring something with you?"

"Well, about the girl…I lost her." Itachi's eye twitched at this.

"You lost a girl? How?"

"She used some sort of force field thing on me. It was damn powerful, too." He scratched the back of his neck, eyeing Itachi nervously.

"Force fields are her power. Of course she used one on you."

"No," Kabuto interjected, pushing himself off the railing. "This one was different. It had a pulse to it. Like a shockwave of energy. It hit me hard, damn near knocked me unconscious. Can't even figure out where she got all that added chakra at, she was damn near empty, I was sure."

"Idiot." Itachi spat, showing anger few have seen. "Her eyes can supply her with the chakra of anyone she chooses within a certain distance, like fallen enemies and friends. You killed her family in front of her, right? She probably used her parents' chakra against you."

Kabuto's eyebrow rose. "You didn't tell me about that power."

"Thought it went without saying, if you read the scroll I gave you."

"Must have missed that paragraph." Kabuto leaned against the railing again, eyeing the black haired man with unease. "I did destroy a village, can't blame me for everything. I mean I did do all of _your_ dirty work."

Itachi grimaced at that remark. He was beginning to feel light headed. "I'm sure, however, you didn't leave without _your _experiment. Where is the girl going?"

The silver haired man took a deep breath before answering. "Konoha."

"What?" Itachi spat out, glaring the man down. "I can't have her power if she's in _Konoha_!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure that you will find a way. Besides, I did my share of the deal. I weakened her severely; everything she'd ever known is dead and gone. The village itself burned to the ground."

"Your share? You were supposed to bring her to me!"

Kabuto held his hands up in defense, smiling maniacally. "Maybe you can trick that annoying brother of yours to bring her to you. I mean, you have the full Sharingan power, use it to your advantage before you…lose it."

Before Itachi could react, Kabuto had already disappeared.

----

"Lady Hokage will be in, just give her a moment." Shizune said, giving the young red-headed girl a smile. The girl attempted to smile back, only managing a weak grin.

Of the three that brought her here, only the pink haired girl remained. She stood in the corner, watching her intently for a few minutes before talking.

"What's your name?"

"Ayame Kishimaru." Truth be told, Ayame didn't feel like talking. But she knew there really wasn't a way out of it now.

"My name is Sakura Haruno." The girl, now known as Sakura, smiled. Her green eyes trying to stare into Ayame's own, but Ayame just eyed the floor instead. "Are you feeling better? Less weak?"

Ayame nodded. Sakura opened her mouth to say something else, but a tall blonde woman walked into the room.

"Hello. I am the Hokage, Tsunade." The blonde woman said with a slight smile. Following her was the blonde boy that was carrying Ayame in the forest. "What is your name?"

"Ayame Kishimaru of the Hidden Wind Village." Ayame's voice was small, her face was directed toward the floor as she spoke.

"Hidden Wind Village, where's that at?" The blonde boy asked, standing next to Sakura.

"No one knows, Naruto, which is why it's _hidden_." Sakura smirked, jabbing Naruto in the side, to which he only rolled his eyes.

"Shh!" Tsunade glared at the two before turning back to Ayame. "We are arranging for transport to your village…"

"No!" Ayame interjected, staring Tsunade full in the face. "There is nothing left there! It's gone, destroyed!" Her breathing was heavy as she practically spit out the words.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

Ayame took a few ragged breaths, trying not to let her emotions run her. Tsunade put a hand on the girls shoulder, trying to console her. Finally, Ayame found her voice, but couldn't find the right words to express it. "I…he…my power…couldn't do anything…" Tears streamed down her face as the frustration of finding her words hit her.

"Slow down. Take your time…we'll wait until you are ready to talk."

"I won't ever be ready…" She said sadly. Suddenly, as a thought hit her brain, hard, her head snapped up. "Use the Mind Reader jutsu."

Tsunade was taken back. "That jutsu is forbidden. How do you even know of it?"

"That's…not important. But you finding out who des-" Her words cut off before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Finding out what happened is important. Please, I know I can't talk about it, but if you use the jutsu, you can see it all."

The Hokage took a deep breathe before turning to Sakura. "I'll need your help."

"Yes, Master." Sakura said, coming to Tsunade's side.

"Take her shoulders and hold her still. They always go limp while you read them." Sakura took her position, holding Ayame tightly. "Are you sure? If done wrong, I could completely erase your memory."

"You were chosen Hokage for a reason, right? You won't screw up." Ayame received a nod from Tsunade and a slight smile.

The jutsu was performed, with an eagerly watching Naruto standing on the side. Any chance the blonde had to see a forbidden jutsu was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. He was joined by Kakashi, who upon being brought up to speed on the situation, was also eager to watch the jutsu.

Tsunade's eyes locked with Ayame's as she filtered the information through her hands, which were each placed at Ayame's temples.

---

_Ayame's Memory: 17 hours ago_

_The village of Ayamaha, a small hidden village in the Land of Fire, housed only two hundred people. The word Ayame means 'Iris' and the village was given the name because of the beautiful iris' that grew over most of the grass. Although it was small, Ayamaha managed to house a small warehouse and several promising food stands. The businesses there were thriving, most of them home-businesses owned by the most prominent families. Leading the village was not a 'kage' by any means, but simply the eldest and most prominent clan, the Kishimaru clan. At the young age of thirty, a man by the name of Jin took over for his father. Shortly after taking the title, his father passed away. His family, which consisted of a wife and twin children, were supportive, but could only do so much. He was barely 'Village Leader' for a year when disaster struck the tiny town, shoving the villagers into utter chaos and devastation. _

_The event that would later be known as "The Massacre of Ayamaha" started because of one traveler. This one solitary man hid his face behind the hood of a cloak and called himself Kabuto. It was he alone who destroyed a peaceful village that never did any harm to anyone. A village that stayed by itself, never mingling in other villages affairs, unless asked by one of the five Kage's to help out. The man who kept his face hidden strolled in there pretending to have been traveling for weeks with no rest. The Leader's daughter, Ayame (named after the village she grew to adore) detested the man with a passion unlike any the village had ever seen. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. She wanted him out of the village. And, even as disaster rained down around her, she could only think: If only they had listened to me. _

_The Massacre of Ayamaha. Four words that will forever strike as much grief and fear in people's hearts as the night the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon devastated Konoha. But, surely, that night in Konoha caused less deaths than that of Ayamaha's. The devastation and massacre had started only weeks after Kabuto arrived, after the night Ayame found a strange mark on her friend's neck; three commas in a circle. Soon after she began seeing the mark on more and more villagers, until she finally saw the mark on someone closer to her. She found the mark on her mother. Shiori, the wife of the Leader, defended the mark by saying she must have gotten bit by a bug. Then she told her young daughter she had always had the mark, that it was a birthmark. Both stories were known to be lies. Soon after that she saw her own father had the mark. It seemed that moment was when the village began to deteriorate. _

_Slowly, one by one then two by two, the villagers started to disappear. First it started with the poorer families, and then moved up in wealth. By the time two months ended nearly half of the villages population had disappeared, all of then bearing a mark Ayame had begun to believe was cursed. She confronted her father, her bright green eyes shining with worry and concern for the village she adored. He only brushed off her concern, not believing a word of it. _

"_No one is missing." He told her. "They're on missions." He'd lie. "They are helping neighboring villages." _

_All of this she knew to be false, especially when some of them were merely children or people with no ninja abilities at all. She tried to confront Kabuto on her own, believing that her abilities would at least allow her to wound him, maybe even drive him out of her home, her village. She was wrong. She didn't fix anything or drive anything out of the village. Instead, she made it worse, much worse. _

_It was raining in the village, a light drizzle coating the buildings and the ground. He'd warned her. He'd told her if she stood in his way he would kill her and everyone who ever meant anything to her. She refused to let up, confessing her undying love for the village. That's when he started with her best friend. He called out, bringing a young girl with bright blue hair (a recent jutsu gone wrong) out of the darkness. She stood there, dazed and unmoving, in front of the horridly scarred man. Kabuto brought a kunai out of his holster and gripped it tightly. Ayame went to move, trying desperately to save her best friend. She got one warning, which she didn't heed. Stay put or she dies right now. She didn't listen, she brought her hands in front of her forming hand signs, trying anything at all, but she wasn't quick enough. Her frightened daze made her moves slower than normal. The kunai slid across the young girl's throat, the warm crimson blood flowing over Kabuto's hand. Ayame gasped, choking on her own saliva. The jutsu she was forming was incomplete and did more harm than good. Instead of creating a force field that should have knocked Kabuto out cold, knocked her backwards into one of the beams holding up the warehouse roof. She hit it with such force she nearly broke it in half, but it busted just enough to begin the chain of events she desperately tried to avoid. _

_The beam she hit began to crack the rest of the way, the roof above her buckling in. Kabuto yelled in surprise before teleporting himself outside. Ayame was shaking the daze of unconsciousness as she tried to stand up. Taking her weight off the beam proved to be a bad idea as it forced the buckling to worsen. As the first support of the roof caved in, she looked up. She had barely enough time to react as her eyes turned pure white; a glow of blue surrounded her retinas. The faintly blue force field surrounded her, repelling any debris that fell. Undamaged from the building collapsing, she got to her shaking feet and walked out of the debris, following Kabuto's now familiar chakra signature. _

_She saw him talking to something or someone, but no one was around. Taking this as her opportunity, she held her shaking arms in front of her and began to form hand signals again. She was trying to focus on the signs, not her best friend lying dead under a pile of rubble, not the fact that she couldn't find her twin brother or her mother or her father. Just the hand signs and breathing. Yeah, breathing was important. She said the name of the jutsu – Wind Style: Wind Void Jutsu – and held her hand out in a gripping motion. She aimed for the man's windpipe, wrapping chakra-fueled air around it, sucking the oxygen from his lungs. Kabuto started to gasp and gag, fighting for air that Ayame wouldn't allow him to have. He turned around, following the chakra back to it's owner. His eyes were huge, his fight for oxygen reaching no favorable conclusion. Forcing a last-ditch effort, he held his hands in front of him pooling all of his chakra. He still had the kunai from before in his hand, to which he used the sharp edge to cut his finger. Doing a quick summoning, he proved to have his master's power. A huge black snake, at least fifty feet tall, too hundred feet long, appeared. Instantly Ayame lost control of her jutsu, her hands dropping limply at her sides, her face contorted in shock. _

_The rain that had been drizzling down all day slowed to a stop and a gray mist covered the ground. Ayame's bright red hair blew in the breeze, slightly damp with the rain. Her green eyes shimmered in fear, her mind at a loss of what to do. Never, in all of her specialized ninja training, had she ever been taught to fight a giant snake. And, never had she ever wanted to learn more than now. The sound of screaming villagers could be heard for miles as the snake slithered toward her. She couldn't move, frozen in complete fear…horrification. The snake was nearly on top of her now, eyeing her with golden glowing eyes, licking its mouth as if tasting the air for her blood. Her eyes already wide with fear widened further as the snake's head descended down, mouth wide open. She opened her mouth to scream, but the wind was knocked out of her by someone pushing her small frame. _

_She looked over to see her mother and father standing where she previously was, their family's signature move – a thick wall of chakra-fueled wind strong enough for most enemies to be stopped in their tracks known as the Demon Wind Wall – stood huge and bright in the gray haze. The snake was trying to bite them, only drawing a surge of chakra each time. Her parents looked as if they were having trouble controlling it, however. The snake was too big; it was taking all of their chakra to fight him off. Ayame ran forward, attempted to help by throwing her own chakra-fueled wind into the wall. Instead, her mother let go and grabbed her by the shirt, throwing the young girl behind her. Shiori turned around, her husband not able to control the huge wall any longer and attempted to help, but was too late. The snake broke through and grabbed her father in his mouth. Ayame let out a startled scream and scrambled to her feet, falling several times. Shiori let out an ear-piercing scream and pulled a large sword from her back, swinging wildly at the belly of the huge snake. Faintly, through the screaming and cursing, Ayame could hear Kabuto laughing. _

_The snake, promptly after swallowing Jin whole, attempted to pick up Shiori too; instead it received a sword through its tongue, slicing it neatly in half. The snake let out a high-pitched wail, flailing its massive head around madly. Ayame stumbled backward, the severed chunk of snake tongue nearly landing on top of her. Shiori's long black hair billowed in the wind as she coated the large katana in her hand with chakra, all she had left. She swung at the belly of the beast, nearly slicing it clear through. The snake left out another wail before falling down to the ground. Shiori couldn't move in time, the snake's upper half crushing her, killing her instantly. Through all this, Ayame couldn't move. In her mind, she had caused it all. She set the dominoes tumbling into an infinite abyss of darkness and death. Taking a calculated look around, she saw numerous buildings destroyed, some on fire. Dead and severed villagers lay strewn in various places, some filleted and gutted in grotesque positions. She realized then that Kabuto was not laughing at what his giant summon had been doing, but he was relishing in his summon of several smaller, yet still huge on their own, black snakes. The snakes, sporting larger than normal fangs, were slowly creeping toward her now. They would turn their heads from the massive dead snake and her frightened face, as if blaming her for the death of their father. _

_The girl tried to scream, but no sound came out. She was beyond frightened. Kabuto saw this and laughed again, an evil and malicious laugh that ripped through her like a hot knife through butter. It made her shiver, her body wet and cold from the rain and from cold sweat. Tears ran down her face in long trails, smudging the dirt and grime already present. Her green eyes shimmering with the tears turned to Kabuto as he began to speak, but she couldn't make out his words. Her world had been devastated, the town she loved so dearly destroyed. She felt she had nothing left. Ayame bowed her head, openly admitting defeat. _

"_Think I'll let you give up that easily, little girl?" Kabuto's voice rang out. Ayame raised her head a fraction. "I want you to suffer. You brought this to your village. And if I kill you now, he won't give me what I want. I need the knowledge. The trigger. _The key_. Only he has it now. So, I need you alive. Because I promised him I would keep you alive is the only reason you are still here. You are alive on a whim." At this he laughed that malicious laugh again. _

_Ayame raised her head, risking a glance into his now uncovered face. His entire left side was scared and bruised, as if something was clawing its way out. The eye facing her looked misplaced on the softer features of the man on the right side. He smiled at her, his left side barely turning up as if unable to move. She struggled to find the words she needed to ask, but couldn't form them. _

"_You want to know why, right? That's what you are trying to ask?" He waited for her to nod in agreement before continuing. "I told you, he needs your eyes. Those special eyes your father never shut up about. He knew he'd never get it with your grandfather here, so he killed him. And now with your parents gone, you're all alone and vulnerable. _The perfect prey._" She cried, the tears dropping to her feet mixing with the rain already there. Not caring he was breaking her slowly from the inside, Kabuto continued. "And, as for your brother, I need him." At this her head snapped up. "Because I'm going to need another body, just like my master." _

_Ayame's eyes turned white with the faint blue tint. They were out of her control, now, and acting on their own accord. They did this every time she got out of control. Kabuto smirked, seeing the power in her eyes again. He attempted to send the hordes of snakes he'd previously summoned after her, but Ayame had other plans. She formed hand signs quicker than she'd ever done before, summoning forth a huge chakra-fueled dome. The protection surrounding her fended off the snakes as she felt out for any source of chakra still alive. She found it, in her dead mother and father. Holding her hands out toward them, the flow of chakra left their bodies and entered hers, fusing with her own low chakra supply. She turned back to Kabuto, who was still sending more and more snakes her way. _

"_You will regret this, Kabuto!" Ayame growled, stretching her arms out to her sides, making the chakra dome pulse with chakra. _

_Smirking, the girl let forth a shockwave, sending Kabuto and his hordes of snakes flying backwards. They landed with sickening thuds, assuring Ayame she must have defeated them. Fatigue washed over her, the limit of her power showing its side effect, forcing Ayame to hit her knees. She was shaking, watching Kabuto for any signs of life. Finally, Kabuto's body started to stir and rose to his shaking feet. _

"_Almost, but not quite." He hissed out, teleporting before the sentence was over._

_The snakes that were left behind hissed, but ignored her, favoring the already dead victims covering the ground. Unsure of what to do, Ayame used her remaining strength to leave the destroyed village. She hoped for help. She hoped the villages her father had painstakingly formed alliances with would help her. She hoped for a miracle. _

_Ayame walked for miles, it seemed, before her body finally gave out from pure exhaustion. Her chakra was low, as was her stamina. She was sure that she looked horrible, but at that moment she didn't care. Her parents were dead, her brother was missing, her village was destroyed. There was nothing left. _

_As she collapsed on the forest floor, she had to chuckle at the irony. She landed in a circle of purple iris'. Before passing out, she whispered to the wind, "Irony is a bitch."_

_

* * *

_

So, long ass flashback, but it explains her situation to you and introduces her well, I hope. Agree or not? Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 3:  
The Return Home**

Sakura held Ayame up as Tsunade's mind was pulled from Ayame's memories. She eyed the young girl, sadness in her eyes.

"I am sorry." Tsunade said, her voice sad as well. "You are more than welcome to find a new life in this village. After all, you are Ayamaha's leader's daughter, Princess Ayame."

Ayame snorted. "I'm no princess. Just the leader's daughter, nothing more."

"Another hidden princess?" Naruto questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"Hush, Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Your kekki genkai…it's extremely rare." Ayame nodded at Tsunade's words. "You have to be the…"

"Fifth. I'm the fifth yielder of the Ayamagan." The young girl began to stand up, not wanting the sit and be stared at like a circus freak. The people in the room were treating her as if she was fragile. She hated it. "Look, Lady Hokage, I know you mean well and all, but I have to avenge my village. I have to kill Kabuto. I couldn't protect them and they paid for it. It won't happen again."

Sakura and Naruto's eye met as she talked, both of them allowing a pang of déjà vu to hit them. Naruto's blue eyes closed for a minute before opening with determination in them.

"The last person that called themselves an Avenger wound up joining Orochimaru and becoming a traitor. You really want that for yourself?"

Ayame's eyes snapped up to meet Naruto's. "You don't understand…I was supposed to protect them. And I can't become a traitor to a village that's already destroyed!"

"You won't do anyone much good if you're dead."

"What do you know about me?" She was standing now, fiery determination in her eyes that rivaled Naruto's. "You weren't there; you have no idea what I went through. You didn't see them all die around you while you stood there, frozen and pathetic!"

"God, you sound exactly like Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, slamming his fist into the wall behind him. "I suppose the next thing you're going to say is 'I don't care what happens to me, as long as I get my revenge', right?"

Ayame's mouth opened and closed, he was right.

"Naruto, that's enough." Tsunade warned. "Ayame, you are in no condition to fight yet. Your chakra level still isn't at one hundred percent. Until it is, you are under Hokage's orders to not leave this village. Understand?"

The red head simply nodded, still keeping her eyes on the blonde boy fuming in front of her.

---

Naruto was stomping down the streets of Konoha, fuming at the girl they'd found in the forest. How could she believe in such a foolish concept like revenge? It wouldn't solve anything, wouldn't make anything better. Why didn't she understand?

He didn't even realize he'd walked toward the village gate until he heard someone shout. His eyes snapped up, coming face to face with a crowd of people. They were all shouting and pointing, calling out something about ANBU and a traitor. Naruto ran toward the group at full force, coming face to face with several ANBU guards holding a – surprisingly – compliant Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sasuke…" Naruto breathed out. The raven haired teen looked up, catching the blue eyed stare directed toward him. "Bastard!" Naruto growled, lunging forward and punching the Uchiha in the jaw.

The ANBU guards tried hard to keep the two teens away from each other, but they were both too strong. Eventually, the guards just shrugged and let the two fight it out. Said fight went on until Naruto's elbow hit Sasuke in the temple, knocking him unconscious.

Sasuke came to in a sterilized hospital room, his head hurting severely. He could hear a sound, which sounded oddly like laughter, as the room spun around him. Finally forcing his eyes to concentrate, he found himself facing a laughing Naruto.

"Loser, you passed out on me." Sasuke didn't respond, just glared and tried to sit up. "Fine, don't talk to me…I'm used to it, bastard."

"Dobe." Naruto stiffened when Sasuke said his nickname, bringing back emotions and memories he'd tried to hide for two years. "Let me out of here."

Naruto's eyes snapped back up to Sasuke's. "Hell no!"

"I need to talk to someone, and it's not you."

"I don't care; you're still not getting out of here. Who do you want?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

Sasuke didn't reply, just crossed his arms and turned his head, away from Naruto, toward the window overlooking his old village. The room turned quiet for a while, neither boy looking to the other for several moments. They were both in deep intense thought.

Suddenly, Naruto turned to Sasuke, speaking in a low voice. "Was that the _only _reason you came back, Sasuke?" When Sasuke didn't answer, only turned to stare at him, raising one delicate eyebrow, Naruto continued. "You didn't want to see your old friends, the team, or anything else? Just for, what, _knowledge_?"

"What do you _want_ to hear, Naruto? That I missed the team?" Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke continued. "That I missed this damn village that brought me nothing but _pain_? That I missed _you_?"

At that sentence, their eyes met. Naruto's shone with sadness and longing as it hit extremely close to home.

"It's not what _I want_ to hear, Sasuke. It's what _you want_ to say to me…"

"I don't have anything to say to you." Sasuke growled out, not missing the hurt flashing through Naruto's eyes.

"Nothing? After you just left me to _die_ there in that place? You have _nothing at all_ to say to me?" The blonde was fuming now, his eyes flashing a dark shade of red as he spoke. This, however, did go unseen by Sasuke, as said raven haired teen was facing the window once again.

"No." Was his simple reply.

Naruto blinked a few times before letting a growl from deep down in his throat fill the silence. "You are so _frustrating_!" Sasuke turned his head, staring at the blonde with, now, red eyes. "Why do you have to act like the world revolves around _you_? There are other people here, other people affected by your choices. You destroyed the team, Sasuke! You destroyed _me_!"

"You? You? What do _you_ have to do with _my_ revenge?"

"Revenge? It's a suicide mission! Orochimaru wanted your _body_, Sasuke! How did you not see through that? The guy was a psycho pedophile!"

"He didn't get me, did he?" Sasuke said in a cocky voice.

"Bastard! He damn near did!" Naruto stood up, his hands fisted at his sides, knuckles white. "And after two and a half years you just…just…_pop_ back into town like nothing happened?"

"I needed answers."

"You need a new set of morals!"

"You need to stop acting like you know me." Sasuke growled, throwing himself off the bed and standing in front of Naruto.

"You need to stop acting like you don't care about anything. Like you don't care about the team."

"I don't."

Sasuke and Naruto's faces were barely a foot apart now; they were both breathing heavily with frustration and pent up emotions. For lack of something to say, something that would change Sasuke's heart and mind, Naruto just closed his eyes and lunged at Sasuke, catching the stoic teen in a bone-crushing hug.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, honestly confused.

"I think you need this, more than I do."

"You're an idiot." Sasuke said, his voice low and soft as he spoke. He all but gave into the pure warmth of Naruto's body against his, but decided against it.

They stood like that for a while longer, neither wanting to move at all, until a knock sounded through the door. The door creaked open, revealing Tsunade striding into Sasuke's hospital room.

"Uchiha…" Tsunade said, looking up from her paperwork, only to see the two teenage boys scrambling away from each other as fast as they could. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Old Hag, don't you knock?" Naruto choked out, getting a glare from Sasuke.

"I did, brat." Tsunade looked from Naruto's face to Sasuke's, seeing equally blushing cheeks from both. "Anyway, Uchiha, we have to talk."

"Yes, I figured we would."

"I want to stay!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, making Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"I figured. Do you have a problem with it?" She asked, turning to Sasuke.

"Let the idiot stay."

"You need information on what?" Tsunade asked, taking a seat in a chair beside Sasuke's bed.

"The Ayamagan." At this, Tsunade's eyebrow raised.

"How do you know of the rarest kekki genkai?"

"A kekki genkai? What's the bloodline limit do?" Sasuke asked, watching how even Naruto's eyebrow rose at that.

"Its specialty is force fields. Is Itachi after it, Sasuke?"

"Yes, I believe. He had books and scrolls on the subject."

Tsunade looked deep in thought for a moment before turning to Shizune standing at the door. "Please find the young girl. She should be with Sakura who is showing Ayame her new apartment."

With a nod, Shizune was off, leaving Sasuke alone with Naruto and Tsunade.

"Why would Itachi want it, Tsunade?" Sasuke asked, getting a glare from the blonde woman.

"Respect will get you places, Uchiha. I'm Lady Hokage to you, not Tsunade!"

"I'm sorry, _Lady_ _Hokage_." Sasuke's words were dripping with sarcasm as he put the respect to her name. "Do you even know what he'd want with it?"

"I have a thought, but I'll need her for that." A few moments passed before Tsunade looked from one boy to the other, remembering the look on each of their faces when she came in the room. "What were you two doing before I came in this room?"

Instantly, both boys' faces turned beat red.

"N…nothing…Granny…really…" Naruto stuttered out, trying to will his blush away.

Tsunade smirked and shrugged. "Alright, if you're sure…"

"Lady Hokage?" A voice sounded from behind the door, which was slowly creaking open. "You wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes Ayame. Please come in." The young red headed girl came into the room. "Did you like your apartment?"

"Yeah, but you really didn't have to." Ayame was eyeing the raven haired teen carefully as she spoke.

"What, and leave you sleeping on the street? I think not." Tsunade noticed the way Ayame was eyeing Sasuke, raising an eyebrow at it. "How much do you know about your kekki genkai?"

Ayame's eyes snapped to Tsunade. "There's not really a manual for it, you know."

"Well, how about drawbacks, overuse after effects, thinks of that nature."

"What are you thinking, Tsu-…Lady Hokage?" Sasuke asked, sitting up a little straighter.

Ignoring him, she continued. "What is the longest you've ever had it activated all at once?"

"Um…maybe ten hours tops." Ayame was eyeing her curiously, now, wondering where the older woman was going with this.

"Any side effects?"

"No…" Ayame looked to each face in the room, hunting for an explanation.

Tsunade stood up, pacing in the room. "There are more myths on your kekki genkai than any other. The biggest one, which is the one he'd be interested in, is that your kekki genkai has no side effect, no overuse effect."

"Overuse of the Sharingan leaves the user blinded…" Sasuke mumbled to himself, suddenly understanding Tsunade's line of thinking. "He was slower, more careful of his movements…he's going blind!"

"And, he wants a way around that…he wants Ayame's power…"

Ayame's head shot over to Tsunade, eyes wide. "The man Kabuto was working for, who is he?"

"My brother, Itachi Uchiha." Sasuke said, making Ayame whip her head around to look at him.

"Your…your brother?" She looked at him, her mind working overtime at realizing his name sounded familiar. "You're an Uchiha? Your brother…he…"

"Yes, my brother killed my entire clan and left me so I could come after him." Ayame looked taken back by Sasuke's statement as the room went quiet.

"Okay," Naruto said suddenly, breaking the silence, "I'm confused. What are we talking about?"

Tsunade took a deep breath before sighing. "Brat, listen up next time. Ayame has a secret kekki genkai called the Ayamagan. She is only the fifth person who has _ever_ had it. With me so far?"

"I got all that, Old Hag! Sakura explained all that before. What I don't get is why Itachi wants her. What good will her eyes do for him?"

"He's going to take them." Ayame said quietly. "But he'll kill me. They can't be removed, that much I do know."

"We won't let him, we'll protect you." Tsunade put a hand on Ayame's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Naruto interrupted. "Take them? How do you _take_ them?"

"How do you think Kakashi got his Sharingan, baka? You can implant your doujutsu into someone else, if the doujutsu allows it."

"You people are crazy." Naruto mumbled, sitting down in his chair. This whole conversation was way out of his league.

* * *

Ah, the first little bit of SasuNaru. It took three chapters to get to it, but I hope you enjoyed it. I promise there will be more SasuNaru to come. Like I could go a day without some sort of action. lol! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 4:  
A New Mission**

"You are a traitor, Uchiha. What makes you think we'll just let you waltz back into this village a free man?" The councilor demanded, slamming his fist on the desk in front of him.

"I never made such an assumption." Sasuke calmly replied. "I am just asking you to please suspend my punishment until I have completed my destiny. I have to avenge my family."

"Uchiha," Another councilor said, her eyes warmer than the man sitting next to her. "It's not that we don't understand. We were all on this council when the Uchiha Massacre happened." Sasuke flinched at her name for that fateful night, but said nothing. "We only ask that you consider the revolt the villagers will rain down on us if we let you walk free. You left this village, nearly killing Uzumaki, to be trained by the murderer Orochimaru."

"I killed Orochimaru. He is no longer a threat."

"Yes, that might very well be, but the fact remains…" She was interrupted by the first councilman growling.

"The fact remains that we do not trust you, Uchiha!"

Tsunade stood up from her seat beside Sasuke, trying to stay as professional as possible. "Exactly what do you fear will happen, Raizou?"

Said councilman glared down at Tsunade. "He will kill innocent villagers and fellow ninja; we cannot allow this to happen."

"I've never killed anyone _but_ Orochimaru!" Sasuke snarled. Then, with a much softer voice, he added, "I couldn't kill Naruto, I still can't." Tsunade caught it and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"And we have proof of that?" At this, Sasuke was silent; the truth was he had no proof. There was no way to prove anything he'd done with Orochimaru. "I didn't think so."

With a heavy sigh, Tsunade locked eyes with the councilman known as Raizou. She'd made a deal with Naruto that she would do everything in her power to not let Sasuke receive a death sentence. He did say to keep him alive by _any means necessary._ "You have my guarantee that Sasuke will not harm _anyone_ in Konoha." A gasp was heard from the council, and a wide-eyed stare from Sasuke. "I'll guarantee this by putting him with the one person he could never kill; he'll be under the constant guarding eyes of Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke began to object, but was pinched hard by Tsunade.

"Do you really put your villager's lives on the line for this… this traitor?"

"Yes, because I know Naruto will keep him on our side if it's the last thing that boy does." She sent a glare from the corner of her eye, directed at Sasuke who simply dropped his head.

Walking out of the council chambers, Sasuke was stopped by Tsunade who whipped him around to face her.

"If you make me look like a fool, Uchiha, I will kill you myself. Same goes if you hurt Naruto, but I won't be the _only one_ killing you then." She let go of his arm and began to walk away. "You better find him and stick like glue, you hear me?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Sasuke muttered, fingering the piece of paper in his hand.

The blue slip of paper in his hand had the terms of his freedom written in perfect calligraphy. Thanks to Tsunade, he was able to avenge his family. The aftermath, where he'd be punished once his revenge was complete, was something he'd have to deal with. This whole living with Naruto thing would be just another obstacle on the road to his destiny. An obstacle he could deal with…maybe even enjoy dealing with.

----

Ayame was quickly getting tired of all the strange looks she got from Konoha's villagers. She'd been in this place for almost four days now, and she hated it more than the day before. Even the people who were supposedly _protecting_ her were never around; they were all more worried about the Uchiha who _came back_.

Not having anyone to talk to was also bugging her, not that she'd admit it. She didn't know anyone yet, let alone if she was going to make it to next week. From everything she'd heard whispered behind her back, this Itachi was dangerous and she was lucky to be alive from what Kabuto could supposedly do. And with her currently lucky streak, she could very well be dead and eyeball-less by next week.

Sighing heavily, she turned a corner, only to be face-to-face with a pink haired kunoichi she'd come to know during her stay here.

"Hello, Ayame." Sakura smiled warmly, although the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Hello, Sakura." Ayame smiled back, but hers barely reached her mouth.

"I was actually coming to find you. Me and Naruto are going to train, would you like to join us?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, sure. Besides, we're all curious of what your kekki genkai can do." Sakura smirked. "Naruto sure as hell is curious, and he's annoying when he's like that."

Ayame smiled a little and followed Sakura, maybe this town was looking up slightly.

----

At the training field, Naruto was standing beside a younger dark haired boy. They were talking animatedly, making very strange gestures with their hands. Sakura and Ayame walked up to them, wondering what they were up to.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked when they got closer, making the younger boy jump.

"Oi, Sakura! Wanna see my newest jutsu?" Without waiting for a reply, the boy put his hands in front of him, creating a clone of himself. Then, forming another sign, transformed one of them into Sasuke and the other into a clone of Naruto.

The two illusions (who were very naked and very, very sexy) began running their hands over each other's chests and necks. The blonde one leaned forward, latching to the pale skin of the clone's neck in front of him and sucking deeply. As the two illusions began going farther and farther with their exhibitionist showing, Ayame began to stare, drooling at the sight in front of her. Sakura's face turned a deep shade of red and ogled the sight, also. Naruto, however, was looking as if he was having trouble breathing. The two illusion's actions, of which Konohamaru was doing an amazing job of showing everything _but_ what the girls _wanted_ to see, were making Naruto blush a bright shade of red.

"Konohamaru, you bastard, knock it off!" He smacked one illusion over the head, making it disappear and a very hurt young boy appear.

"What the hell, Naruto. It was your idea!" Konohamaru yelled, rubbing his head.

"I said make Sakura's nose bleed, not that!" Naruto crossed his arms and looked away, trying to hide his blush. "You didn't have to use _me_…" He mumbled out.

"Fine, asshole, I'm going home. And I'm totally telling Iruka-sensei that you got all angry and blushing when I made you make out with Sasuke!"

"No!" Naruto yelled, lunging toward Konohamaru. He missed as the young boy ran off, laughing. "Don't you dare brat!" The blonde yelled at his retreating form.

Ayame and Sakura laughed their faces red from lack of oxygen. Naruto turned to them, glaring at the two girls.

"Not funny." He mumbled.

"Oh, grow up, Naruto." Sakura said, her laughing calming down. "Ayame came here to train with us."

Naruto smiled a little, eyeing Ayame carefully. "I wanna see what your thing can do."

"Ayamagan?"

"Yeah, that thing."

Ayame rolled her eyes but activated it, making her eyes turn white with the bluish-purple tint taking over. The air began to create a whirlwind effect around Ayame, her red hair whipping around her.

"Whoa…" Sakura breathed out, watching the swirl of leaves surround Ayame and herself.

"What does it do, make wind blow?" Naruto asked skeptically, crossing his arms over his chest again.

Ayame smirked and held her arms out in front of her. A circle of bluish-purple light surrounded her body, creating the force field she'd came to depend so highly on.

"A…a force field?" Sakura's pink hair blew in the wind caused by the rippling force field, which consisted mainly of chakra fueled wind.

"It's almost impenetrable." Ayame answered.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto smirked, bringing his hands in front of his body. "We'll see about that." Naruto brought forth a shadow clone and began forming his Rasengan, making Ayame's eyes widen.

"No, can't be…" She didn't have time to finish her sentence, however, as Naruto charged at her force field. When the Rasengan connected it broke through bit by bit until Naruto's hand was next to her head, the blue orb in his hand slowly fizzling away.

"Hey, doesn't hold up against my ultimate power." He smirked, giving Ayame a playful nudge.

"Dammit, Naruto, you could have killed her!" Sakura berated him, smacking Naruto's head hard.

"It's wasn't a fully charged one, Sakura. Don't hit me, it hurts!"

"Sakura, it's alright." Ayame said, deactivating her Ayamagan. "But, Naruto…you should know mine wasn't fully charged either." She smirked, laughing slightly at the way Sakura was still yelling at him.

Sakura stopped yelling long enough to ask Ayame if she was okay. Ayame, who was about to answer, was cut off by Sakura and Naruto both gasping, looking somewhere behind her.

"Sa…Sasuke…" Sakura stuttered out. "I didn't think…I mean I knew I just didn't believe. You really are here. Sasuke, you came back!"

"Don't." Naruto said sternly, putting his hand on her arm. "He's not here for us."

"Such a warm welcome from my old team mates…" Sasuke smirked, stopping a few feet behind Ayame. "I expected more, maybe a party or something."

Ayame just stood there, not understand anything that was occurring and secretly wishing someone would pause the show and explain what was happening.

"What do you want if you didn't come back for us?" Sakura asked, her eyes turning dark.

"You didn't tell her, Naruto? I'm disappointed in you."

"Weren't you always?" There was an edge to Naruto's voice, and an unreadable emotion flickering through Sasuke's eyes. The way they were insulting each other now was completely different from when they were thirteen. This was more direct, more of a hit on suppressed emotions and feelings. The insults dug deep, it was apparent in each boys' eyes as they spoke, something even an outsider like Ayame was slowly picking up on.

Deciding to break the glare both boys had set on each other, she spoke up. "He wants me." Ayame said, causing the other three to look at her. It was as if they just remembered she was there. "He wants to see what my power can do so he knows why his brother wants it. Right?"

"Ah, you sure are a smart one." The raven haired teen walked forward, stopping a little in front of Ayame. "Show me why he'd want it."

"We covered why he'd want it."

"Show me yours I'll show you mine." Sasuke activated his Sharingan, eyeing the girl in front of him. Taking a deep breath, she activated hers again, the swirl of air causing Sasuke's hair to blow in the wind.

"What are you going to do, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice holding a hint of concern. "She's still recovering, you can't…"

"Can't what? Fight her? I'll go easy on her…I promise."

"Your promises don't mean shit, Sasuke." Sakura hissed, making the Uchiha look at her strangely.

"Why, Sakura…I thought you loved me."

"You thought wrong." In a flash, Sakura was lunging at Sasuke, who barely dodged her. She reached again and gripped the front of his shirt, barely grabbing it, and pulled him forward. Her fist connected with his jaw, sending a sickening sound of cracking bone through the air. Sasuke fell to the ground, clutching his jaw and moaning in pain.

Naruto smirked and leaned down in front of Sasuke. "You did deserve that, you know." Ignoring the death glare the Uchiha sent him; he reached out and helped him up. "Come on, Tsunade can heal it…I hope." He decided it better to not mention Sakura can heal. That bag of worms need not to be opened, as he doubted Sakura would heal it in her state of mind anyway.

The walk to the Hokage Tower was quiet, save for some moaning sounds every time Sasuke bumped his swollen and purple jaw. When they finally reached it, and entered the Hokage's room (with a snickering Shizune allowing them in), Tsunade took one look at Sasuke and busted out laughing.

"Let me guess, Sakura did that?" She said once the laughter died down. The intense glare Sasuke was sending off was diluted slightly by the painful expression his face was simultaneously giving off.

"Yeah." Naruto smirked while trying not to bust out laughing.

"Alright, come here, Sasuke." Tsunade held out her, now glowing green, hand and healed the purple jaw until it was back to normal. "It might still hurt a little when you chew, but the tenderness will go away."

"Thanks." Sasuke mumbled sarcastically, still holding his jaw protectively.

"I guess that will teach you not to mess with her. She's not the weak little girl you left here, you know. She's stronger, faster, a great fighter. She's a different Sakura, that's for sure." Tsunade said. Sasuke snorted, glaring at her. "So, Naruto, are you ready for your new mission?"

"I have a new mission?" He was beyond excited, until he saw the confused look on Tsunade's face. "What, I miss something?"

"I thought he would have told you." She motioned toward Sasuke, who mumbled something. "What?"

"I didn't have a chance." He said a little louder.

"What?" Naruto asked, looking animatedly between Tsunade and Sasuke.

"Sasuke is on probation, until his…um…avenging happens. Until then, however, he needs to be held under constant supervision." Seeing a still confused look on Naruto's face, she sighed. "You are the constant supervision, Naruto. He has to stay under your guardianship until further notice."

Naruto's dropped open, nearly hitting the floor. "You…your kidding…right?"

"No, brat. So, pick a place to live, either your place or his. Constant supervision includes night, too."

"I'm sorry, Tsunade, but this is bullshit!" Naruto was fuming. "How can you stick me with the Ice Princess? After everything? The evil bastard tried to kill me!"

"I'm not evil, baka!" Sasuke seethed.

"You tried to kill me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Yeah, on a _whim_, right?"

The two boys glared at each other, making Tsunade wonder if she made the right choice.

* * *

Sorry this chapter took so long, but I'm sick right now and it's taking me a while to write it. I keep re-reading the new chapters to make sure they make sense. lol! Hope you enjoy it. I love that you people are trying to read this story, it means a lot to me. XD 


	5. Chapter 5

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 5:  
Wind Ninja Teaching Wind Ninja**

Constant supervision, as Naruto soon learned, was a pain in the ass. Or, at least the person he had to constantly supervise was a pain in the ass. Either way, he was quickly becoming frustrated.

It was bad enough Sasuke insisted, quite violently, that they not stay anywhere near Naruto's apartment, but now he was forced to stay in a two-bedroom apartment Tsunade graciously set up for them. Tsunade only _graciously_ set it up after a fight broke out in the middle of her office, damn near destroying a full length window with a Rasengan.

Once moved in, however, the mood slowly changed. Within two weeks what started out as unsettling despising calmed down into toleration. In all honesty, the boys found out, living together wasn't so bad. They sort of evened each other out. What Naruto lacked in tidiness and organization Sasuke more than made up for. And Sasuke, never one for roomy-touches to his homes, found he didn't hate having numerous plants taking up his valuable shelf space. He did, however, set his foot down at Naruto's incessant need to care for every stray animal he found.

"Aw, come on, Sasuke! He's all alone in the cold world." Naruto pouted, holding tightly in his arms an orange striped tiger cat, which looked as if it just wanted to run far away.

"No." The stoic teen said, setting his proverbial foot down. "I hate cats."

"No you don't." Naruto continued to pout, carefully placing the poor and innocent cat on the balcony landing. He turned around and walked slowly back into the apartment, past Sasuke, and toward his bedroom. "You just hate me," He whispered before closing the bedroom door behind him.

Sasuke sighed and sat down on the couch. He just didn't want some stray cat in his apartment, why was that so difficult for the blonde to understand? Glancing toward the balcony landing, he noticed the innocent orange striped tiger cat staring at him through the glass. It looked sad, Sasuke noted, but he didn't go to tend to it. Instead, he walked to the kitchen and put a piece of fish on a small plate and poured some milk into a small dish. Carrying both on the balcony, he fed the underfed cat. After making sure the animal was attempting to eat, he went into his own room and shut the door.

Naruto poked his head out of his room upon noticing the quiet of the apartment. He inched out, seeing Sasuke no where in sight, but he did notice the orange cat on the landing, still licking the dish. He smiled a little, thinking that it was really nice of Sasuke to do such an act. Instead of saying anything, however, he just went back to his room and shut the door once again.

----

"You favor dark caves, don't you?" Kabuto asked, following Itachi into his new hideout. Kabuto wasn't wrong, this was as dark and damp as the previous one, but it was difficult to find fully furnished, warm and dry caves in the Fire Country.

Not even honoring that with a response, Itachi kept walking. It wasn't until they were deep into the cave did the scenery change. The eldest living Uchiha had found a hollowed out section to keep his living quarters. A flat ledge in the cave gave the perfect spot for his books and scrolls to be studied over. Even a make-shift bed was slung in the corner. Motioning toward the stack of books and scrolls, Itachi led Kabuto over to his make-shift desk and pointed at one particular book.

"It was written by the fourth Ayamagan yielder." He stated simply. "Very detailed."

"You brought me here to show me a book? I'm touched, Itachi, but I don't really care."

"You impudent fool!" Itachi hissed. "I've been studying in order to do the ritual correctly. Unfortunately, the young girl will have to die in order for me to obtain it. Not that I care, however, but it will still happen."

"And?" Kabuto asked, raising the eyebrow about the eye that looked increasingly like Orochimaru's.

"You will be there to heal me, just in case something goes wrong."

"And why would I do that?" Kabuto raised his voice making it echo off the cave. If there was one thing he hated, it was being forced to do anything. Especially by someone like Itachi.

"Because if you don't, I'll kill that boy you so deeply desire. You know, the one you took from Ayamaha…then you won't be able to use him." His tone was mocking, which Kabuto grimaced at.

"You wouldn't…"

"I have already found him, Kabuto. I'm not stupid. He's under a coma right now, which won't release with my death. This coma, it's forcing his body to be stuck within his memories. He'll relive them over and over again until I release it." At this, Itachi smirked to himself. Kabuto was shifting uneasily in his stance. "If you try to do the body transfer jutsu while he's under, you'll be stuck in the coma instead. Wonderful, isn't it?"

"You're completely insane, Itachi Uchiha." Kabuto spat out. "I will heal you, as I have no other choice. You won't give me what I want unless I give into your commands, right?"

An evil smirk slid across Itachi's face. "Soon we'll both get what we want, Kabuto, very soon…"

----

Sasuke sat on an abandoned log at the training field, watching as Sakura and Naruto trained with Ayame. He wasn't allowed to join in, by order of the council, but he was forced to go and watch. The scene was boring, until a certain blonde shinobi decided he was getting overheated in his orange jacket. With sweat plastering his hair to his forehead (his headband had blown off a while ago when Ayame hit him with a wind attack) he removed the jacket, showing off the mesh shirt he wore underneath.

He wasn't the only one who was caught staring at the new and improved Naruto; both girls stopped what they were doing to stare in awe.

Naruto had grown up quite a bit since Sasuke had last seen him without a shirt. Aside from being taller, Sasuke always thought Naruto looked almost the same. Now, however, he saw the difference. His body was lean now, having lost most of his baby fat thanks to puberty, and slightly chiseled. His perfectly tanned skin, which Sasuke was always secretly jealous of, was still unmarred and perfect.

Shaking her head, Sakura nudged Ayame in the side so she would stop staring too. Grinning sheepishly at Sakura she diverted her eyes, but caught Sasuke's gaze and realized he had yet to.

'Ah, so that's what all this tension is about?' Ayame thought to herself, watching the intense way Sasuke was staring at the jacket-less Naruto. 'They've got some history…'

----

(_This whole next section is entirely __**my**__ thoughts on how I think the Ayamagan and Wind Element manipulation works. I have no idea how it really works, as I am not a ninja. When I conceived the idea of the Ayamagan, this is how I pictured it would work and I just hope it makes sense to you all._)

Ayame watched, later that day, as Naruto powered up a Rasengan and an air current went buzzing around it. She stared at him, what she was seeing finally sinking into her skull.

"Naruto," She started, making said boy lose his focus. "You're a Wind Element, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." Naruto looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"With your nearly endless chakra supply, I'll bet you could do the Wind Flash. It takes a great deal of chakra and stamina, but I'll bet you could do it."

"Wind Flash, what's that?" His blue eyes bore into her as she spoke of a jutsu he'd never heard of.

"Watch." Ayame pooled her chakra, her eyes flashing white as she did. Then, sighing, she dropped her hands, her eyes turning green again, and looked back up. "Damn, I don't have enough chakra left. Mind if I borrow some of yours, Sakura?"

"Borrow mine? How do you do that?" Sakura asked, being taken back slightly at her question.

"My Ayamagan can borrow other people's chakra. They don't even have to be touching me to do it; I just need to feel it out."

The three stared at her for a second, until Sakura pulled herself together. "That is so wild! And, I would offer my chakra, but I'm nearly out as well." She then flashed Sasuke an evil smirk. "Take Sasuke's chakra."

Sasuke shot her a glare. "Why mine?"

"Well, you are _obviously_ not using it." She flipped her hand at him before turning back to Ayame. "He won't mind."

Smirking, Ayame turned to Sasuke. "Do you mind, Sasuke? It won't be a lot, just a top off."

"Hn."

A red eyebrow rose. "Was that a yes or a no?"

"No one could ever tell." Naruto sighed. "Give her a real word, asshole."

"Whatever." Sasuke growled out, glaring intensely at Naruto.

Ayame activated her Ayamagan and channeled into Sasuke's chakra, only taking what she needed. The second it began to flow through her chakra system, she began feeling slightly light headed.

"Wow, this is some intense chakra…almost like my grandfathers…"

"You okay?" Sakura asked, noticing Ayame was slightly wavering in her stance.

"I think your chakra made her sick, Sasuke." Naruto said, noticing Ayame's wavering stance also.

"No, moron, it's just stronger than her own."

"I'm fine, just a chakra rush I guess." Turning back to Naruto, her bluish-glowing eyes focused on him. "You ready to see it now?"

"Yeah, you sure you can do it this time?"

Ayame just smirked and pooled the chakra in her system again. This time, when her eyes turned white and glowed blue, she was ready. Within a second she went from standing in front of Naruto to standing almost four feet behind him; the only thing signaling she moved at all was the red blur she left in her wake.

"Whoa…" Naruto breathed out, smiling brightly.

"Isn't that almost the same thing the Fourth Hokage could do?" Sakura asked.

"Almost. Mine uses chakra-fueled wind, as most of my jutsu's do, to flash. I think that the Fourth's used just regular chakra, but a lot of it. I'm not really sure how he did it. I'm not sure many people do know, actually."

Sasuke was standing up, watching her intently as she spoke with red eyes. "You were riding the wind, weren't you?"

"Yeah, sort of. Like gliding on a wind current."

"And you expect the moron to be able to do this?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow, his eyes turning their normal onyx color.

"Why not? He has the chakra supply and stamina for it and it's not hard to master. Just takes time and determination." She stopped and turned to Naruto. "You wanna try?"

Naruto stopped glaring at Sasuke long enough to answer Ayame with a determined "Of course!"

"First, you need to learn to Wind Walk, which is a lot harder than it looks. And, to do that, I have to teach you how to control the air around you."

"So, what you are trying to say is I'm going to be sitting on this cold log all night long, right?" Sasuke growled behind them.

Sakura glared at him, cracking her knuckles. "You want another broken jaw, Sasuke?"

"It won't take all that long. I have a quicker way of teaching you than my grandfather taught me. He went the old, traditional way. I'm more of a modern type teacher…wait, I'll explain." She noticed the confused look on Naruto's face. "Take your shirt off."

Both Sasuke and Sakura exclaimed, "What?!"

Naruto, who looked beyond confused, stuttered something inaudible.

"You are all perverts. There's an honest reason for it. You can't feel the wind currents around you with clothes on." The three just stared at her, eyebrows arched up. The more she talked, the more she dug herself in a hole. "Wait, that still didn't come out right, did it?"

"No." Sakura smirked. "Try again."

"Wind currents can't be felt properly through fabric, so the best way to feel them is to eliminate as many clothes as possible and still stay properly dressed."

"Better." Sakura said, still smirking. "And properly dressed for boys includes not wearing a shirt. I think I get it, but what are you going to do to him once you get him…um…naked?"

"Not naked!" Ayame squeaked out, her face turning red with embarrassment.

"Okay, shirtless then…"

"He just has to feel the wind and search for the different wind currents around him."

"I think I get it." Naruto said, taking his mesh shirt off. "How do I feel the wind?"

Getting better control over her words, as she blocked out the constant snickering of Sakura, Ayame took a deep breath and began explaining herself to Naruto. "Hold your arms straight out at your sides, palms flat." Naruto did as he was told, still looking slightly confused. "Can you feel the air around you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Can you feel the shifting current, different temperatures, as they cascade over your skin?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Cascade over my skin? Are you sure you don't read Ero-sennin's dirty books?"

"What? No." Ayame glared at him. "Just shut up and listen or you'll never get this."

They stayed like that for several more minutes before Naruto finally thought he could feel the wind current. Sighing out of frustration, Sasuke exclaimed his excitement. Sasuke's excitement was met with a 'blow me!' retort from Naruto.

"Okay," Ayame began, walking up in front of Naruto. "I'm assuming you've learned to manipulate your wind element, right?"

"Kind of."

"Okay…'kind of' means…?"

"Well, I can merge the wind element with my Rasengan, if that helps." Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, actually, that's good. So you already know how to work with it. Great! Now we just need to teach you to use the air around you."

"How?" Sakura asked, taking an interest in Ayame's words, as was Sasuke although he wasn't showing it as obviously.

"The Wind Element works a little different than Earth or Fire. It's more…pliable, I guess." She stood beside Naruto, facing the same way he was, and held her arms out in front of her. "My power comes from my sense of touch. That's why I wanted you to be able to _feel_ the wind around you instead of just manipulating it. If you can feel it you can do more with it." She stopped and looked at Naruto's face, which actually looked like he understood her. "Am I making sense?"

"Yeah, actually, I do. You explain stuff better than Kakashi-sensei or Ero-sennin."

"I'm glad." Ayame smiled. "Now, hold your arms out in front of you, fingers spread apart, and feel the wind current around you." Naruto did as she said, feeling for an invisible power.

"This is pointless." Sasuke muttered from his place on the log.

"Sasuke please shut up." Sakura growled. Sasuke just stared at her, not believing he would ever hear her say that to him, ever. "He's trying, this is difficult to learn."

"I think I'm getting this, Ayame." Naruto said, his fingertips feeling the air swirling around them. "What do I do once I feel it, again?"

"Make it move. Make it do what you want it to do."

"How?"

"With chakra. Bring the chakra to the end of your fingertips and use it to make the air move."

Twenty minutes later, Ayame could see the wind swirling around Naruto's fingertips begin to move against the other currents.

"Naruto, I think you're getting it." She said, moving closer to him to see clearer.

"Really? Because I don't really feel anything happening."

"It's not something you see," She stood in front of him, placing her hands on his arms. "It's more like something you feel. Can't you feel the air moving around you?" She raised her hands off his arms and kept them hovered a hairs length above before she moved them down from his elbows to his wrists.

He could feel the tingling sensation of her hands over his arms, but also felt something different; the feeling of air moving across his skin, almost cascading. The current was soothing, almost, and he liked the feeling. He tried to keep it going, but the current became too erratic the more he attempted to control it.

"Am I doing it?" He asked, looking into Ayame's face to see her expression.

"Yeah, you are. Now you just need to control it." She took her hands away to show him he was doing it by himself. When he still felt the sensation, he smiled a little to himself. "You felt it getting out of control, right? That's because you need to control your chakra a little bit better. But you're getting the hang of it."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hand in the air. "I am the greatest ninja ever!"

Sasuke snorted and stood up. "Can we go home now, _greatest ninja ever_?"

"Asshole." Naruto muttered, but turned back to Ayame and smiled. "Thank you. Can we pick up again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, kiddo, that's fine."

----

Sasuke plopped down on the couch the second they entered the apartment, not even waiting for Naruto to close the door.

"How did sitting on your ass all day make you tired, Ice Princess?" Naruto asked, receiving a glare from Sasuke.

"I told you to stop calling me that, dobe."

"Then stop calling me dobe!"

"I will when you stop acting like one."

Naruto growled in frustration. "You are so difficult to live with, you know that?"

"Then don't live with me."

"Like I have a choice?" He raked his hands through his blonde hair, digging his nails in.

"I didn't ask for this, you know. Like I _wanted_ to be stuck with your ignorant ass? I _wanted _to be out killing Itachi, not here with _you_." Sasuke stood up during his rant, facing Naruto straight on. Because of his current position, he didn't miss the hurt flashing through the blue eyes in front of him.

Naruto's hand went from his hair, down his face, and fell limp to his side in one smooth motion. His blue eyes showed hurt like never before. "I'm sorry I'm such a _horrible_ person, Sasuke. I'm sorry that I _wanted_ you to come back because maybe, just _maybe_, I _missed_ you."

The blonde turned on his heels, practically running to his bedroom. Sasuke stood there, mouth hanging open, not moving until he heard the bedroom door slam shut. Wincing, he walked slowly to his own bedroom. He really didn't know what to say, and didn't know if talking would make it better anyway. Instead, he opted for sleep to ease the tension currently between them, although he secretly knew it never would.

* * *

Aww, poor Naruto. Sasuke can be such an asshole sometimes. Or, most of the time, depending on how you look at it. lol.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and my sad attempt at some humor on Ayame's part. XD


	6. Chapter 6

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 6:  
Itachi Sparks a Sleepover**

_Naruto's eyes opened, the blue of his eyes being the brightest thing in the dark place he was in. Moving his hand in front of his face, he saw it was covered in blood, but not his own. His clothes were still clean, not a trace of blood anywhere but his two hands. Noticing he was standing in the middle of some cold, dark clearing in the middle of a forest, he began to take a step, only to bring his foot down on something soft. Chancing a glance down, he saw a tuft of black hair sticking out from underneath his blue sandal. _

_The black hair was connected to a pale face; a face looking like it was made from porcelain. It was Sasuke's face, covered in a few spare droplets of blood. He lifted his foot off the black hair and knelt down beside Sasuke's frail body. Reaching a tanned hand out tentatively, he felt for a pulse on the smooth pale neck in front of him…nothing. No faint lub-lub of a heartbeat to be found. _

_Naruto's eyes began brimming with tears as he frantically felt for a heartbeat on Sasuke's frail pale wrists. Still nothing to be found. _

"_Sasuke…" Naruto breathed out, praying the sound of his voice would bring him out of the unconscious state. "Sasuke, who hurt you? I'll kill him. Sasuke, please…"_

"_I did, Demon Child." A voice sounded behind him._

_Naruto, clinging onto Sasuke's frail body firmly, whipped around. Behind him stood a tall dark haired man who looked a lot like Sasuke. It was Itachi. _

"_Itachi…how could you…Sasuke…" Naruto was choking on his words, they seemed so difficult to form. _

"_Stupid little brother, he deserved to die." Itachi smirked. He looked down, and for the first time Naruto noticed there was something in Itachi's arms; a young red-headed girl. "So did she." Itachi's eyes shone bright white in the darkness, the hint of bluish-purple surrounded where his iris' should have been. He had Ayame's Ayamagan. Naruto had failed in protecting her._

"_You killed her? But we…I…supposed to be protecting her."_

"_Apparently you didn't do a very good job, baka." Itachi mocked him, sending off a murderous laugh. "You can die too, Naruto. And then you can be with my brother. I already know you want him. This is the only way you can have him. You and I both know he'll never want you…"_

_Itachi's voice trailed off as his body faded into the darkness. Ayame's limp body dropped, hard, to the ground. Naruto heard someone scream, he thought it might have been himself, but then Sasuke's voice began sounding through his ears. _

"_Naruto…Naruto…Naruto…"_

----

"Naruto, wake up baka!" Sasuke was shaking the blonde, who was a lather of sweat on his bed. His body was writhing around, and he was moaning. Sasuke was attempting to hold him still, but to no avail. "C'mon, Naruto, wake up. It's just a dream."

As the voice in his dreams became louder, more real, Naruto's eyes snapped open. He sat straight up, nearly knocking Sasuke off the bed.

"Sasuke!" Naruto all but screamed, lunging himself toward the raven haired teen, whom was still gripping his shoulders. "Sasuke, please be alive! Please don't die! I couldn't handle it!"

The shocked Uchiha just sat there, the blonde's arms wrapped around him, crying on his shoulder. "N…Naruto…what?"

"Please, Sasuke…stay with me." Naruto was whimpering more than talking, his voice begging for Sasuke's warmth to stay. Pale arms encircled him, holding the blonde tightly.

"I'm here, Naruto." Sasuke whispered, rubbing Naruto's back soothingly.

"No, you're far away…you're leaving me again…" Tears began streaming down his face, soaking Sasuke's t-shirt.

"What?" Sasuke pulled back, letting Naruto's head hang as if in defeat. The blonde was shaking, as if stuck in his dream still.

Looking up, Naruto's blue eyes shimmered with tears, said tears streaming down his face. He took a deep, shaking breath before meeting Sasuke's eyes. "If we find Itachi, and if you kill him, what then? Where will you go then? Back here to Konoha, or away somewhere else?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, confusion flickering through his onyx eyes. "I…I don't…"

"You don't know? How can you not know?" Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, giving him a childish look as he did so. "How can you not have this figured out? You've been thinking of this since, what, you were six or something? How do you not know what will come after you kill him?"

"Naruto…I…" It was unlike Sasuke to stutter, or choke on his words. And it sure as hell was unlike Sasuke to not have something definite to say. But this time he was at a loss for words. This time, he didn't have anything figured out. He had no strategy beyond killing Itachi, because – to be quite honest with himself – he didn't figure he'd be living after it. _But with Naruto there, with him, he might have a chance…_

"Sasuke, answer me!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but didn't have time. A knock came to the apartment door (well, it was more like someone hit the door with an anvil), shaking both boys from their current conversation. Getting to shaky feet, Sasuke and Naruto went to open the door. They didn't have to open it, however, as Kiba came smashing through it.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" Kiba yelled, sliding across the floor, chunks of the door flying everywhere.

"What the hell, Kiba! We have to pay for that, you know!" Naruto yelled, forgetting all about his nightmare for the moment. He slapped Kiba across the back of his head as Shikamaru came strolling in behind the fray.

"Dammit, Naruto, don't hit me!" Kiba threw his hands up, protecting his skull, as Akamaru took a position between the two boys.

"Is there a reason you busted down the door at this time of night?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"Lady Tsunade would like to see both of you." Shikamaru replied. "Actually, she wants to see all of us, all thirteen."

"Thirteen?" Naruto asked, attempting to count all the team on his fingers.

"Including the new girl." Kiba snapped, standing up and still rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, then there would totally be thirteen!" Naruto said, smiling as if it was his idea. "Yeah, four groups of three, that's twelve. And then add Ayame, and that's thirteen!"

"Oh, Naruto, you're a genius." Sasuke mocked.

"Blow me, Sasuke!" Naruto growled.

"Well, you two can blow each other later." Kiba smirked, getting a glare from both boys in question and a smirk from Shikamaru. "Lady Tsunade wants to see us now."

"Are we in trouble?" Naruto asked, not relieving his glare.

"Um…well…" Glancing at Shikamaru, he figured he'd let the smart guy explain it.

Shikamaru, taking the hint from Kiba, sighed heavily. "I'm not explaining this all here. Let's just go see the Hokage. Besides, Naruto's too troublesome to explain this to."

----

The small Hokage's office was overflowing with ninja, all the 'Legendary Twelve' plus one was gathered inside. The room was abuzz, everyone wondering why they were summoned and only Kiba and Shikamaru knowing. The two ninja just stood next to the Hokage's large desk, not saying a word and not making eye contact, figuring it was better that way.

"So, is anyone going to explain this?" Naruto asked, getting tired of the constant strange looks getting thrown Sasuke's way.

"If we knew, we would." Neji said coolly.

"Quiet!" Tsunade's voice sounded through the room, making everyone stop what they were doing. "I've called you all in here because of something Kiba reported to Shikamaru. On one of his walks with Akamaru, he caught the scent of an individual he did not recognize. Upon investigation, he saw a man in an Akatsuki robe."

This launched a thousand thoughts throughout the room. Sasuke's head was spinning, there was only one Akatsuki member left; Itachi.

"You mean," Sasuke started, his head still spinning dangerously. "Itachi's here…in Konoha…"

Ayame gasped, grabbing onto Sakura for support. "No…but you said I was safe here."

"I never said he'd actually breached the border of Konoha, but he's around. And, yes Ayame, he's looking for you for obvious reasons." Tsunade stopped, gauging Ayame's reaction. She just looked nervous and scared, an understandable reaction.

"Reasons which are?" Neji asked, looking strangely at Ayame.

Tsunade took a deep breath, knowing she'd have to explain it to the group, which was why they were there. She was just at a loss of where to start. "Ayame, do you want to explain it, or would you like me to?"

Ayame shook her head. "I don't think I could, Lady Hokage."

"I understand. Everyone, listen up!" Tsunade took a deep breath, preparing herself. "Ayame Kishimaru is a member of the Hidden Wind Village, which was destroyed by Kabuto. Kabuto, although destroying Ayamaha on his own, acted upon the wishes of Itachi Uchiha." She paused, letting the words settle in. A gasp was heard amongst the group before she continued. "What Kabuto was ultimately after is still unknown, although it is assumed he kidnapped Ayame's brother, Jakken. Itachi's intentions were to steal Ayame's kekki genkai, the Ayamagan."

This received a mixture of silence and gasping throughout the group.

"The Ayamagan is a myth." Neji said, looking straight at the red headed girl. "It was said to be impossible to receive."

"They were wrong, I guess." Ayame said, shying away from the strange stares she was receiving.

"She does have it." Sakura said, breaking the tension slightly. "We've seen it."

"What's it do?" Chouji asked.

"It's a wind manipulation doujutsu. If she really has it, she'll be able to manipulate the air around her, bending it to her will. Also, force fields are said to be the main power." Neji answered, still staring at Ayame. "Prove it."

Ayame sighed, but did as he demanded, activating her gift, making the air around her begin to whirl and blow the hair and clothes of everyone in the room. "Satisfied?"

"Impossible." Neji breathed out.

"Why is it so impossible, Neji? I've never even heard of it before." Ten-Ten asked.

Neji opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Ayame answering for him. "The myth states that the Ayamagan can only be given to the child whose parents are soul mates."

"Soul mates don't exist." Sasuke said.

"There is no absolute proof that the kekki genkai needed soul mates. How she obtained it isn't important. What is important is-" Tsunade began.

"Why the Uchiha wants it." Neji cut in.

"Precisely." Tsunade said, nodding in agreement.

"Overuse of the Sharingan is causing him to go blind." Sasuke stated. "He needs new eyes or he'll be entirely blind and defenseless."

"And he thinks he can take Ayame's?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's just rude."

"And impossible." Shikamaru said. "Doesn't the myth also state that it can't be removed?"

"Yeah, if he tries the supposed 'ritual' he will kill both me and himself." Ayame sat down in the chair in front of the Tsunade's desk. "My eyes will eat him slowly from the inside; he won't even feel it, until it's too late."

"If this is a myth, how do you know any of this?" Lee asked, raising his bushy eyebrow. "I mean, there's no way to teach any of this."

"True, but the myths that circulate are enough to believe in, if only a little. And some things Ayame just knows by instinct." Sakura explained.

"There is a way to learn." Tsunade said, making Ayame look at her suspiciously.

"There's no manual, Lady Hokage."

"There is a diary kept by the Fourth Yielder, a diary I've been trying to find since you arrived. At this moment, Jiraiya is attempting to search for it."

Ayame's eyes went as wide as saucers. "You're kidding?"

"Nope. And once he finds it, it's all yours."

"Ero-sennin's gonna find it? Are you sure he's not out doing more _research_?" Naruto asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"If he knows what's good for him, he will behave." The tone Tsunade took made everyone in the room believe her; everyone except Naruto and Sakura.

"That's all well and good, Lady Tsunade, but what are we doing to do about Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"We have to protect Ayame at all costs. She's the mission at this moment. I have sent word to an old friend, asking for a safe haven for her to stay. When word gets back, a team will escort Ayame to her new destination, and a few will stay with her at all times. The teams will be decided in the morning. Until then, Ayame will stay guarded by Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke." Then, smirking, she added, "I hope you have room in your apartment, you two."

----

From atop the Hokage Tower, Itachi listened intently. They knew he was there, which was bad. And they were moving the girl, which was also bad. But he had time. He just had to keep them in sight…for as long as he still had his sight. Kabuto, through force, had taught him several jutsus to delay the blindness, all which he'd implemented during that day alone. Deciding it was better to stay close to the girl, he followed the small group, which included his little brother, back to the small apartment. The girl whose eyes he needed looked nervous and scared. She was shaking slightly, of which the pink haired girl was trying to soothe. Once inside the apartment, the girl seemed to calm down slightly.

He shifted himself so he was sitting atop the building across from the apartment's balcony window, allowing him the perfect view at whatever was going on. While watching the boring scene, he felt himself begin to get lightheaded. Knowing his shifting vision would soon go blurry, he attempted a jutsu Kabuto had taught him, only to see he didn't have enough chakra left to do it. The jutsus took a lot of chakra out of him each time, and he'd used many of them that day. Sighing, he ran a frustrated hand through his hair and down across his eyes. There was no way to do this now, so he slipped down off the roof and hid himself in an alley before teleporting back to his cave. He'd just have to try again in the morning, when his chakra was replenished. Until then, he'd wait.

----

"You two sleep in one room, Sasuke can take the couch." Naruto said, motioning the two girls toward Sasuke's room.

"Why am I on the couch, dobe?"

"Because the assholes get the couch!" Naruto growled, walking toward his own room and slamming the door shut.

Sighing, Sakura turned toward Sasuke. "What did you do to him?"

"Hn." Sasuke gritted out, plopping himself on the couch.

"You're going to have to get along with him. You two were never this bad before you left, you know. Sure you two had issues, but not like this. I mean, you two act like you hate each other."

"Maybe we do!" Sasuke snapped.

"Grow up, Sasuke! He tried to help you; he damn near died trying to bring you back! Don't even lay this all on him like he made you leave, you know damn well he didn't!" She stormed off to the bedroom Naruto had made hers and threw herself on the bed.

Ayame looked confused, but didn't say anything. Just walked slowly to the bedroom she'd be sharing with a very pissed off Sakura.

'These people have issues…' Ayame thought while slipping into the bed.

----

Tsunade sat in her office, her head spinning with thoughts, when Shizune came into the room. In Shizune's hand was the scroll she'd been waiting for, the scroll from Suna.

"Lady Tsunade, here it is." Shizune said, handing it over to the current Hokage.

Reading through it quickly, Tsunade found herself smiling in spite of herself. Kazekage Gaara had graciously accepted to use Suna as a safe haven for Ayame, just until the problem with Itachi and Kabuto was over. She looked up at Shizune and waved her closer.

"The Kazekage has graciously accepted to house her for a while, with the condition that she had Konoha ninja as her bodyguards. Give them until at least seven before you send for them; they've had an eventful night."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Shizune nodded before walking out the door.

"Jiraiya, you can come out now." Tsunade said, smirking to herself.

"Ah, you knew I was there the whole time, did ya?" Jiraiya smiled as he jumped into the open window. "You should really close that, you know, anyone could come in there."

"Are you saying I can't defend myself?" Tsunade asked as her blonde eyebrow rose.

"Never in a million years would I say that…to your face." He mumbled out the last part, receiving a glare in return.

"Pretending you didn't say that, I'll ask why you are here."

"Itachi Uchiha has the book, Tsunade. He killed the poor man who was hiding it."

"Dammit!" Tsunade cursed, slamming her hand on the desk. "If he gets her and tries the ritual…"

"He has to get through a hell of a lot of Konoha ninja to do that. In his weakened state, there's no way he could."

"I thought of throwing him off course and sending her to Suna. The Kazekage has agreed."

Jiraiya took a seat on the edge of her desk and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It will be risky getting her there."

"She'll have the entire team with her, all twelve of them."

"Twelve? You're sending the younger Uchiha?" Jiraiya's eyebrow rose slightly, questioning her motives.

"Naruto's going, of course. I'm hoping that he'll keep that crazy teenager in line. They have a history, you know."

"Oh yeah, I'm well aware of that. Do you think they know what they really do feel for each other?"

Tsunade smirked, letting a chuckle leave her before answering. "I think they're figuring it out."

----

In the small apartment across town, a stoic raven haired teenager couldn't sleep. He kept staring through the window, wondering why this one spot on the roof was so eye-catching to him. He flopped around and around on that couch, hating that it was too small for his long legs to rest comfortably on. He could hear the deep breathing of the two girls and the loud snoring of a certain blonde, all of which were sleeping peacefully.

Figuring that sleep wasn't coming, at least not if he had to sleep on the couch, he got up and began walking toward the bathroom. On his way there, however, he passed by the 'sleeping' blonde's room, only to see him sitting up in his bed in deep thought. Apparently the snoring wasn't coming from Naruto. Upon further inspection, he found it was coming from Sakura, making him smirk slightly.

He wasn't really sure what made him do it, but his body stopped in front of the blonde's door and opened it up fully. Naruto, startled, turned around. Seeing it was Sasuke, he let out a deep sigh and turned his body to face the door.

"Hey." He whispered, although his whisper was as loud as his normal voice.

"Hey." Sasuke stepped in the room and leaned against the door frame. "Why are you still awake?"

"I have a weird feeling about this whole thing, I guess."

"Itachi?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"No…yeah…well, just everything I guess." Naruto shrugged.

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, questioning the way he answered the question. "Everything? Including me?"

Naruto shrugged again.

"Dobe, I…about your dream earlier…" Naruto cut him off with a shake of his head.

"Don't 'suke. It was nothing, really."

"It was apparently something, Naruto, you were really shaken up."

"It was nothing." The forcefulness in Naruto's voice made Sasuke regret bringing it up.

"Alright, whatever you say." Sasuke pushed himself off the doorframe and dropped his hands to his side. "Say, Naruto…do you have any idea how uncomfortable the couch is?"

Smirking, Naruto slid over and patted the space on the bed beside him. "You're still an asshole, but I guess you can sleep here."

Sasuke smirked and crawled into the bed beside him. "Keep your hands to yourself, Uzumaki."

"I will if you will. I mean, I know I'm sexy and all. It might be difficult for you."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and rolled on his side, his back to Naruto. "Loser."

"Bastard." Naruto said, sleepily. He drifted off with a smile on his face.

* * *

Some more SasuNaru (if you squint) for ya. Hope you enjoy!

Sorry this took so long to come, but this site would not let me upload anything. It was so emo, and very mean and rude. Kept telling me it was timing out or something. But, finally we have success! YAY!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Warning: Contains a fight scene, which I'm never very good at writing. I hope it's understandable, though. Thanks for reading! And because you waited so long, here's a second chapter to get you all going. XD

* * *

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 7:  
Itachi Makes His Move**

The knock sounding on the apartment door woke Ayame up. She sat straight up in the bed, nearly knocking Sakura off her side.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, rubbing her eyes fiercely.

"Knocking." Ayame whispered, listening intently for it again. When it sounded again, both her and Sakura scrambled off the bed and stumbled for the apartment's front door.

When the door opened, Shizune stood on the other side. "Good morning, girls."

"Good morning, Shizune. Have some news for us?" Sakura asked, stepping back to allow the woman in the door.

"Yes. I can't stay, though, too many preparations to make. But Lady Tsunade wants to see you as soon as you can get dressed. Wake the boys." With that, the dark haired woman left.

"That was the news, huh?" Ayame said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah, the world of a Konoha ninja is never easy." Sakura smirked, turning toward the couch in her attempt to wake Sasuke, only to see he wasn't there. "Where's Sasuke?"

Ayame smirked and began walking toward Naruto's bedroom door. Stopping in front of it, she motioned with her head toward the door, still smirking.

"No way…" Sakura breathed out, walking toward the door herself.

Both girls eased the door open, only to see two teenage boys snuggled as tight up against each other as they could possibly get. During the night, Sasuke had apparently turned on his other side, so he was facing Naruto. A tanned arm was thrown over his middle, with a blonde head buried into his hair. Sasuke's head was buried into Naruto's chest; his raven hair cascaded out behind him on Naruto's other tanned arm. His pale arms were wrapped tightly around Naruto, as if hugging him.

Giggling, the girls silently talked about who was going to wake them up. Turning her head from side to side, Ayame searched the room for a camera of any sort, settling at last on an older 35mm sitting on a shelf. Sakura had to stop the choked laugh from leaving her throat as Ayame snuck deeper into the room, sizing up to get the perfect picture. Unfortunately, she forgot to turn off the flash, so by the time the second picture was taken, both boys began to move. Grabbing Ayame's arm, Sakura drug her out the door, shutting it quietly behind them. They both leaned against the door, listening for any sounds they could hear.

Sasuke was the first to wake up, his eyelids still to heavy to move. He attempted to wipe the sleep away, only to feel his arms were pinned down by something. He pulled back, and felt something pull against his middle. Forcing his eyes open, he came face to face with a blonde head of hair. He jumped, almost falling off the bed, waking Naruto in the process. The blonde opened his eyes, only to see Sasuke's onyx eyes way too close.

"Sasuke?" Naruto choked out, trying to move his arm. When he did, however, he rubbed it slowly across the skin of Sasuke's exposed stomach. Realizing what he did, he gasped. "Sasuke, what the hell?" He shot up, falling backwards off the bed. Grabbing onto anything he could, he fisted his hands into Sasuke's shirt and pulled him off the bed with him. They landed in a heap on the floor, Sasuke straddling the blonde. Both boys' faces were as red as they could be with their noses not even an inch apart.

Finally regaining some of his composure, but sure as hell not his dignity, Sasuke tried to sit up. "Baka…" He all but whispered.

When the two finally opened the door, two girls all but fell into the room. Grinning sheepishly, both girls retreated to their shared bedroom, their faces slightly pink.

"Girls." Naruto said, shaking his head. "They're pathetic."

"I heard that!" Sakura yelled out the door, making Naruto freeze.

"Shit!" Naruto squeaked out, Sasuke just shook his head.

----

Tsunade was waiting for them all when the thirteen arrived. She was pacing in front of her desk, hands clasped behind her back. Jiraiya was leaning against her desk, arms crossed over his chest. Tsunade didn't look up until she heard Shizune announce they were all present.

Stopping her pacing, she turned to them. "The council has decided that we keep Ayame hidden somewhere safe until her threat has been…dealt with. With that, I've decided to send her to the safest place we know of. The Kazekage of the Sand Village has graciously decided to keep her there, as long as she is accompanied by Konoha ninja as bodyguards."

"The Sand Village?" Ayame asked.

"Yes. Now I know it's a long hike, but you're all ninja and will make it in record time, I hope. The risk will be great, but with all of you the casualties will lessen, I hope. Teamwork will be a huge factor in this mission."

"Just us thirteen going then, Lady Hokage?" Kiba asked.

"Yes. Thirteen will leave, only nine will return. You will all accompany Ayame on her journey. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke will stay with her there, becoming her bodyguards. As soon as the threat is eliminated, you will be notified and be told to return."

"Wait!" Sasuke said, stepping forward. "I'm not in the mission to attack Itachi? You can't keep me away from my revenge!"

"You're not being kept out of it, Sasuke. If she'll be attacked, it will be on the way there. He won't be stupid enough to attack Suna directly, as he wasn't stupid enough to attack her here in Konoha. That's why we're sending you _with_ the group to Suna and keeping you close to her, his target." Jiraiya interjected. "You'll get your revenge, Sasuke; no one is denying you that."

"That's sure as hell what it sounds like!" He growled.

"Calm down, bastard!" Naruto growled, grabbing his arm. "If Ero-sennin said you're still in it, then you're still in it. Stop being a jackass."

"He's after me," Ayame said, her voice low. "He'll find me wherever I go, if he wants my power bad enough. I'm sure you'll get to your brother soon enough."

"Is there anything we need to know before we leave Konoha?" Neji asked.

"Actually," Jiraiya answered. "There is. Itachi found the diary of the Fourth Ayamagan Yielder."

"What?" Ayame gasped.

"Assuming he'd read it, he'll know of the mythological ritual to remove the kekki genkai. Assuming he doesn't believe it's only a myth, he'll be using the diary and probably keeping it close to him."

"But he'll kill her!" Sakura gasped. "We can't let him perform the ritual."

"He won't touch her." Naruto growled.

"Good." Tsunade said, nodding her head in agreement. "Pack for a long trip, and don't stay in one place too long. Most importantly, _stay together at all times_. Anything else you need to know about Itachi, ask Sasuke, Naruto, or Kakashi. All have fought him in one form or another."

"Thank you all." Ayame said, a small smile forming on her face. "Thank you for putting your lives on the line for me."

----

Smirking at the news, Itachi jumped off the Hokage Tower and met Kabuto on the ground.

"They're heading to Suna, and there's only one way a Konoha ninja will travel all the way out there." He stopped and looked at Kabuto, who clearly looked like he did not want to be there. "Let's set up an ambush for thirteen little mice." A sadistic smirk crossed his face.

"Better hope the _blind_ mouse doesn't screw it up." Kabuto whispered under his breath, although not low enough so Itachi did hear. He whipped around and grabbed Kabuto around the throat.

"I will kill you, Kabuto. Don't fuck with me!" Itachi spat out, nearly choking Kabuto in the process. With one final glare, he released the man and let him drop to the ground.

"Keep this up, Itachi, and you can do this on your own. I'll find another body, you know. This boy might be special, but he's not _that_ special. I'll find another one and leave you to do this on your own. Just because your power is greater than mine doesn't mean I can't beat you."

Smirking again, Itachi turned and teleported back to his cave, leaving Kabuto in the one village he never wanted to see again.

"Bastard…" He whispered into the air, teleporting as far away from there as he could get.

----

Sasuke walked a little behind Naruto, the rules of his freedom still in effect, even on a mission. He wasn't allowed too far away from Naruto, but it didn't mean he had to be directly up Naruto's ass either. At that thought, Sasuke had to fight a blush off his face. Ayame was walking a little behind him, who was sandwiched between Sakura and Ino. They were being the perfect bodyguards, never leaving her alone for a second. Of course, Sasuke could tell, it was annoying the poor girl to no end.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Neji speeding up his pace to meet Shikamaru's, who was in front of the group. Neji placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Dark eyes widening, Shikamaru turned around and looked at Ayame, who was desperately trying to greaten the gap between her and her two self-proclaimed bodyguards. Naruto had, apparently, also saw this display and raised an eyebrow at the two boys in front.

Before leaving Konoha, the team had decided on code words, words that would tell each of them – quietly – that Itachi or Kabuto was in the area. 'Raven' for Itachi and 'snake' for Kabuto. Shikamaru glanced at Naruto, who understood immediately.

"Damn, guys!" He exclaimed, making Shikamaru shake his head in exasperation. "I'm so hungry I could eat a raven _and_ a snake!"

"Why would you eat a…" Ino began, but trailed off, her eyes widening.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Naruto, you're an idiot!"

Sasuke's eyes had doubled in size, his Sharingan activating at the words Naruto practically yelled. He searched the forest and found them immediately, they weren't even bothering to hide their chakra signatures; it was amazing they'd stayed hidden that long. He saw the signature he recognized as Itachi's coming at them fast, his chakra flaring as his hands formed signals he'd never seen.

"Guys, heads up!" He yelled, getting everyone's attention.

As Itachi flew through the trees, his body flying into the clearing the path made, Ayame threw her hands out to her sides and activated her kekki genkai. A huge dome of chakra-fueled air created a force field, saving all her newfound friends from any of Itachi's attacks. It worked, until he landed on the ground a few feet away from her shield and pointed a finger directly at her. Naruto yelled out something, but she missed it.

In a second she was standing alone in the forest, no force field protecting her. Itachi appeared in front of her smirking maniacally.

"You have something I want." He said, his voice surprisingly calm.

"You won't get it." She growled.

"Try me, girl. You'll lose."

With a twist of his hand, they were standing back in Ayamaha. The huge snake was attacking her village all over again as her parents stood in front of her, attempting to fight off a huge snake she knew they'd lose to. She tried to scream, to release the jutsu, but it was no use. He was still too strong; her Ayamagan had nothing on its power.

Sasuke was watching the way Itachi stared directly at Ayame, his Mengekyou activated. He had her trapped somewhere, her perfectly still body was proof enough of that. Only seconds had passed, but a lifetime could have passed within her mind. He leaped forward, placing his hands on her arm and forcing chakra into her system. Within a few seconds, the girl dropped to her knees, head bent forward. She retched onto the ground a few times before she raised her head again.

Kabuto had jumped down by this time, placing a hand over Itachi's eyes for a split second, healing whatever damage he'd done. It was a move Sasuke didn't miss, however. Neither did Sakura, who recognized the healing jutsu immediately.

"What's the matter, Itachi, your eyes not working right?" She smirked. "He's weakened slightly, but don't lose your cool. Don't underestimate him!" She yelled to the rest of the group before attending to Ayame. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think." Ayame said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She turned her head up and saw Sasuke looking down at her. "Thanks, Sasuke."

"Yeah, no problem." He answered before turning his attention back to the rest of the group. His eyes focused on Naruto, who was charging Itachi with several shadow clones.

The Naruto's were all armed with a rather large shuriken, all of them aiming the weapon at Itachi. He sent a fireball at them, taking out a large chunk of the clones. The few who remained, however, were still charging him.

Kabuto was being held in place by Shikamaru as Neji used his kekki genkai's ability and pushed about sixty-four chakra points on Kabuto's body. The group was working together amazingly well, to everyone surprise and pleasure.

Sasuke charged forward, catching his brother off guard with a chidori aimed right for his chest. Sasuke plus the six Naruto's still charging him was more than a weakened Itachi could handle. He jumped back, using his chakra to keep him from falling off the tree he landed on. His eyes started to ache, his vision becoming blurry. He speedily formed the hand signs needed for his newly learned medical jutsu, momentarily stabilizing his vision. He looked down just in time to see Naruto's overly large shuriken flying directly toward his torso. He dodged it, but didn't see the Rasengan directly following it. It caught his arm as he jumped, leaving a large gash.

Seeing the pair stopped slightly, he took it as his opportunity to damage the blonde's psyche. Extending a long, slender finger, Itachi attempted to trap Naruto in a genjutsu. It was cut off, however, but a huge wall of chakra-fueled wind which formed in the gap between them.

Ayame walked forward, strengthening it more the closer she got. She stepped in front of Sasuke and Naruto, facing the wall, and pushed it forward. It flew toward Itachi, crushing him between it and a tree, the tree breaking and falling backwards.

Kabuto, who somehow made it out alive – barely - from Neji's attack, ran forward with a kunai clenched tightly in his fist. He made his way toward Ayame, but faltered slightly to the side. Feeling someone coming, Naruto saw Kabuto's blunder and realized a second soon enough that he was now aiming for Sasuke. Grabbing the raven haired teen's shirt, he pulled Sasuke against him and threw his leg out, tripping Ayame on the way down. Forcing Kabuto to miss both of his targets, Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

The eldest Uchiha didn't miss what happened and smirked when he watched his brother land on top of the blonde. With the chakra wall down, he could move and began to stand up, helped by Kabuto.

"Little brother, we'll meet again." He started as Sasuke stood up, helping Naruto up as well. He stopped long enough to meet Itachi's eyes and see the smirk forming on his older brother's face. "Next time, brother, leave your boyfriend at home." With that said Itachi teleported away with Kabuto. But not before seeing the blush slowly creeping up Naruto and Sasuke's cheeks.

----

The group rested most low on chakra and some injured. The fight hadn't gone all that wrong, but the fact remained they didn't kill the intended target. This was voiced throughout the group, only to be silenced by Shikamaru.

"The most important thing is we didn't lose Ayame." At this, Ayame smiled and nodded.

"You guys did great! Thank you all!"

"Yeah!" Naruto said, smiling brightly and throwing a fist in the air. "We totally kicked ass!"

"True that, Naruto!" Ino exclaimed, giggling.

"Now what?" Chouji asked. "Do we keep going or head back?"

"We keep going." Neji said, standing up from his seat beside Ten-Ten. "It's our mission to get her to Suna. We're still not there."

"We're close, aren't we?" Hinata asked, probably the first thing she'd said the entire trip.

"Almost, I think. Maybe another day or so." Sakura smiled. "We're making great time, actually."

"All that's left is to get to Suna, drop off Ayame, Sakura and the two _love birds_ and go back home." Kiba said, smirking.

Sasuke glared, intensely, at Kiba. It took a while to sink into Naruto, but once it did he stood up and began yelling.

"Shut up, Kiba! He didn't know what he was talking about! Tell them, Sasuke!"

Sasuke would have talked, but he was too busy glaring at Ayame and Sakura at the moment. As the two girls giggled to Ino, Ten-Ten, and Hinata, Ayame muttered something about 'not being able to get those pictures developed' and it was making Sasuke face feel heated.

"Sasuke, help me out here!" Naruto growled out.

"Huh?" He asked, turning back to Naruto. The look on Naruto's face was enough to make the group begin to laugh out loud.

* * *

Ah, so first fight scene...how'd I do? 


	8. Chapter 8

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 8:  
Showdown in Suna**

Finally seeing sand had never made thirteen people happier. They trekked through the sand with newfound ambition, a feat they thought only Naruto and Lee had in them.

Meeting them at the gate, Temari and Kankuro was watching them walk forward with smiles on their faces.

"Welcome to Suna!" Kankuro exclaimed, shaking Ayame's hand enthusiastically.

"Th-Thanks, I think." Ayame muttered, looking toward Naruto for support. Naruto smirked and shook his head.

"He's a strange one." Naruto whispered when Kankuro turned away.

"Sorry." Temari said, shaking Ayame's hand. She motioned toward Kankuro while adding, "He forgot his medication today." Ayame giggled and smiled. "Welcome to Suna, I'm sorry that you had to visit our village under these circumstances. But, any friend of Konoha is a friend of Suna, so let's get you all set up."

"Is Gaara busy?" Naruto asked, jogging to catch up to Temari.

"He's waiting for you, Naruto. We'll drop you off there first."

"Yes!" Naruto said, throwing a fist in the air. "I've missed that guy."

----

When they reached the Kazekage tower, Temari showed them into Gaara's office.

"Gaara, you have visitors." She said, ushering the thirteen into the small office.

Gaara looked up from his paperwork and, upon seeing Naruto, let out a small smile. "Welcome, friends."

"Gaara!" Naruto said, running up at taking a seat in the chair in front of the Kazekage's desk. "How you been, buddy?" Gaara's smile widened slightly.

During their conversation, Ayame leaned over to Sakura and whispered, "Were all the Kazekage's this cute?"

Sakura snickered and looked her. "No, just this one."

"Come on, everyone. I'll show you all to your rooms." Temari said, escorting them out the door.

"Rooms?" Neji asked.

"We believe in hospitality and you have all traveled really far. We heard that you all had a battle, are any of you injured?"

"No, we have several healers on the team, now." Shikamaru answered.

"Well, Mr. Smarty-Pants, then you can all just go to your rooms. You'll have to double up, though. Maybe triple up, but in the end you'll all have a bed, we hope."

----

Sasuke was the last one to be shown into a room, which he saw had only one bed.

"Am I getting a room to my own?"

"No." Kankuro said, peeking his head into the bedroom. "Why?"

"There's only one bed in here."

"Oh, um…we'll find you another one. Guess you don't want to be sleeping with Naruto, huh?" Kankuro snickered.

Kiba, who had been searching for the bathroom with Shikamaru, rounded the corner at that exact moment and heard the conversation. Deciding the opportunity was way too good to pass up, he added, "Wouldn't be so sure of that, Kankuro."

Shikamaru smirked at the shocked expression on Kankuro's face and the death glare emulating off of Sasuke.

----

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Gaara asked, eyeing the blonde curiously. He'd been talking non-stop for almost a half an hour now, but suddenly stopped. The cease in verbal audio took place right after he mentioned Sasuke's name.

"Yeah, I…I'm just tired, I guess."

"Are you sure that's it? You became silent after mentioning the Uchiha."

Naruto chuckled slightly. "Yeah, forgot you're a quick one. He's just a bastard, that's all. Since he came back, I don't know how to act around him. Everything's different, he's different."

"Different how?" Gaara asked, leaning forward with his elbows propped on the desk, holding his chin.

"I don't know, just different. Like one minute he's really nice to me, then the next he's being a bastard again. I know I'm like that to him, too, but it's because I don't want him to leave again. I really missed him while he was gone."

Outside the door, Sasuke stood, frozen in his place. Of all the people in the world Naruto could talk to about him, the blonde chose Gaara? He'd just gone searching for the idiot; he didn't think he'd find him talking to Gaara like this.

"Maybe you two just need to talk about it. Talk everything out."

"Maybe, if we could stop arguing long enough to have an actual conversation." Naruto was sliding down in his seat, wanting to melt into it.

"You have to give it a try, Naruto. He'll never know how you _feel_ if you don't tell him." The emphasis Gaara put on the word 'feel' made Naruto uneasy. It was as if he knew the true feelings hidden deep down inside of him.

"Maybe. I'll try." Naruto smiled weakly.

Sasuke could hear footsteps coming from behind him and quickly attempted to hide, only to see Temari and Kankuro walking down the corridor.

"We see you, Uchiha." Temari smirked. "What are you doing outside Gaara's door?"

Deciding he was caught, he moved into the open and sighed. "Waiting for Naruto."

"Well, you're in luck. Gaara's needed in a meeting so we'll be kicking the blonde pain in the ass out. Give us one second." Kankuro said as the two walked into the room and, after some insults and mock-fighting, Temari escorted Naruto into the hallway.

"You'll have plenty of time to harass the Kazekage tomorrow, until then go to bed. You must be exhausted."

Frowning, Naruto turned to walk away, only to jump upon seeing Sasuke standing there. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not supposed to leave your side, remember?" Sasuke said, hoping it was a good enough excuse.

Naruto thought for a second, frowning slightly, before sighing. "Yeah, alright." Sasuke began leading the way back to the room, walking beside Naruto in perfect silence, until Naruto entered their shared room. "Why is there only one bed?"

----

Sasuke paced the bedroom, waiting for Naruto to exit the bathroom. It wasn't that he needed in there badly, he just needed to talk to the blonde idiot.

Naruto stared into the bathroom mirror, eyeing himself carefully. Gaara gave Naruto a lot to think about, with him somehow _knowing_ about his feelings toward Sasuke. Gaara's suggestion to 'tell Sasuke' was what really had him worried. Could he do this? Could he actually tell Sasuke everything? Taking a deep breath, he reached for his clothes, only to see that he forgot to bring them in the bathroom with him.

"Damn." Naruto hissed. Wrapping a towel around himself he opened the bathroom door. "…Sasuke…"

Sasuke's head whipped around upon hearing Naruto's voice. What he saw was a nearly naked Naruto who was attempting to hide his self and the towel – which barely covered him – from being seen. He wasn't doing a very good job.

"What…Naruto?" Sasuke breathed out, quickly scanning his eyes down Naruto's body.

"I forgot my clothes." When Sasuke still didn't move, Naruto added, "Can you get them for me?"

"Um…yeah, sure." Forcing his eyes off of Naruto, Sasuke turned around and searched for them. Sitting on top of his backpack were his clothes, not even attempted to be folded in any way. He grabbed the clothes and handed them to Naruto, who upon reaching for the clothes dropped the towel.

Two sets of eyes went extremely wide as Naruto stood there in all his glory, entirely naked. Granted, it wasn't the first time they'd seen each other. But it doesn't really count when they were thirteen the last time. (And last time they were in a bathhouse, they saw lots of men naked…even if they didn't _want_ to.) This time was different, they were older and hormones were driving both of them insane. Sasuke, who still had not taken his eyes off the younger teen's body, had a deep red tint to his cheeks. That, however, was nothing compared to the deep red that covered much of Naruto's body. Part of it was because of the incident itself, but a bigger part was from the way Sasuke was staring at him.

Finally regaining his composure, but not his dignity, Naruto slammed the door shut and quickly got dressed. When he reemerged from the bathroom, he noticed that Sasuke hadn't really moved the position he was in. He was still standing there at the foot of the bed facing the bathroom door.

"You can, uh, go in now, Sasuke." Naruto said, trying to shake the older teen from his gaze.

"Huh?" Sasuke said, cocking his head at Naruto's voice. When it finally clicked what Naruto said, he shook his head to clear it out before replying, "Oh, yeah. Thanks."

He grabbed his clothes and began walking toward the bathroom door, only to rub against the blonde's shoulder. Both boys stopped what they were doing, their breaths hitching in their throats, and looked at each other. The gaze was held for what felt like an eternity before Naruto brought a pink tongue out to wet his dry lips. That single act drove Sasuke over the edge of the cliff he was standing on. Leaning forward quickly, before he lost his nerve (what little nerve he had to begin with), he captured Naruto's newly wetted lips in a chaste kiss. When Sasuke pulled back, he saw the wide and confused blue eyes staring back at him. Naruto's expression was a mixture of shock and confusion, and something else the raven haired teen couldn't place. Suddenly feeling as if he'd done something horribly wrong, Sasuke dashed into the bathroom.

Naruto stood there a few seconds more, not believing what had happened. Sasuke had just _kissed_ him, on purpose. Could that have actually happened? What did it mean? As a thousand thoughts clouded the blonde's skull, he missed the sound of Sasuke sliding down the door.

Sasuke's thoughts were more focused on Naruto hating him when he left that little room, which smelled a lot like the shampoo and soap Naruto wore. As the sweet smell of Naruto filled Sasuke's senses, he realized there would be no clear thinking in that tiny room. He stood up and took a quick shower, barely allowing the water to do its job before jumping back out and getting dressed in record time.

Naruto was waiting outside the bathroom door when Sasuke opened it up, nearly running out. The need to flee from the constant reminder of Naruto's natural smell proved to be a great motivator as he tried to escape the confines of the tiny room. However, fate had other plans. Upon escaping from the bathroom, he ran right into Naruto. The blonde stumbled back, grabbing onto Sasuke's t-shirt. Taking this as his opportunity, and not wanting to miss it or mess it up, he pulled the stoic teen down to meet his lips yet again.

It was their third kiss, but it was needed – demanded – from both of them. As if acting on an instinct they'd long since denied, both boys wrapped their arms around each other, pulling their bodies closer. Entwining their tongues, they deepened the kiss until neither could tell where one began and the other ended.

It lasted not nearly long enough for either boy, however, as a loud 'boom!' sounded from outside. The door to their room opened abruptly, a firm hand pulling both of them out into the hallway. There was screaming and confused yelling, but neither teen had come down from their natural high to realize what was going on.

As the situation began to bring the two back to earth, the first thing they heard was Ayame screaming, "He wants me! I can't bring death to another village!"

"What?" Naruto asked, looking at her confusedly.

"She wants to fight them both on her own, she's crazy!" Sakura yelled, shaking Ayame by the shoulders.

"We'll take them out together, all thirteen of us. We have better odds this way." Ino said, trying to reason with the red-headed girl.

"What if you all die?"

"Die?" Ten-Ten asked. "We're all together. We're Konoha ninja, we can do anything!"

"Yeah!" Lee yelled, pumping a fist in the air. "Come, Ayame, let's fight youthfully!"

"You say that one more time, Lee, and I will kill you." Kiba growled out, getting his jacket pulled on by Hinata.

"Ca-calm down, K-Kiba…" Hinata stuttered.

Still not fully in the conversation, having yet to fully regain what was reality and what was that amazing kiss he and Sasuke shared, Naruto just stared dumbly at the group. Glancing at Sasuke, and feeling his face begin heating up again upon seeing those onyx eyes staring at him, he tried to show that he didn't understand. In response he received an understanding nod; apparently Sasuke had yet to catch on, too.

Their thoughts were answered, however, with Neji's next sentence.

"Shikamaru, Ayame has a point. It's her they want; we should deal with this as a group instead of involving an innocent village. Itachi and Kabuto are, apparently, ruthless in their attempts."

Sasuke and Naruto just glanced at each other, not believing what they heard. Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's arm to keep the younger teen from voicing his very loud opinion.

"Desperate is more like it." Shikamaru answered, eyeing Ayame carefully. "Maybe we should give them what they want…"

"What?" Sakura squealed. "Our mission is to _protect_ her, not hand her over to the enemy!"

"Wait, Sakura," Chouji said, stepping forward. "I think we should hear Shikamaru out."

"Naruto, we'll need you for this…"

----

"Something is wrong, Uchiha!" Kabuto yelled over the sound of the next explosive. "No one is fighting back."

"Oh, they will." Itachi answered, his voice taking a higher-pitched maniacal tone. He was slowly going mad from his quest for power, and it was showing more than ever.

Kabuto was beginning to get worried, fearing he may have struck up a deal with the wrong person. Psychos are never reliable. He watched Itachi throw another explosive at the huge sand wall surrounding the village. Smiling as it exploded, bringing a wave of sand with it, Itachi got up and admired his handiwork. There was now a huge hole in the sand wall, a hole big enough to fit an elephant through with no problem.

He motioned for Kabuto to follow and began walking through his newly made hole in the wall. Kabuto followed, slowly and unsurely, watching his surroundings carefully. All this wasn't worth his prize. That boy he kidnapped from Ayamaha could be replaced, no problem. The only reason he stayed with Itachi's newly acquired craziness was because of the part in himself that was made up of Orochimaru. That ever-growing part wanted him to follow, to be there to witness the eldest living Uchiha's demise. For that part only, he'd stay. But he'd made a deal with it that if the going got too tough, he'd pull out of there. There was no way in hell he'd deal with the fallout when he didn't directly cause it. Not this time.

Once inside the village, he noticed a severe lack of Sand shinobi. Hell, there was a lack of Sand villagers. The only human in the vicinity was Ayame Kishimaru, her and her alone.

"Are you stupid?" Itachi asked. "You come out here alone, no Konoha backup?"

"I won't let you destroy another village just to get to me." She said, her voice cracking with pent up fear and anger.

"Oh, is that so?" Itachi growled, taking a couple more steps toward the source of the power he craved.

Kabuto stayed at the entrance, not wanting to step any further. There was something not right about this situation, a something that Itachi wasn't picking up on. Was it his handicapped Sharingan that was lessening his ninja skills? Or was it just that Itachi had finally broke, that he was finally going crazy after all these years?

Whatever the cause, the Uchiha was laughing now; a sickening, psychotic laugh that echoed through the empty village. Ayame just stood her ground, her face taking a determined and serious expression that could rival one of Sasuke's.

"You came here to fight, right Uchiha? Then why aren't you fighting?"

"Who said I _wanted_ to fight? I'd much rather have you do everything for me." He extended a finger, pointing the slender digit at her. Activating what little was left of his Sharingan (after his last attack, it wasn't working so well) he trapped her in his Mengekyou once again.

Or so he thought.

A sharp pain attacked his eyes, forcing Itachi to his knees. He grabbed at his eyes with his hands, screaming. Ayame's face showed a shocked expression as she turned around, looking for her comrades. She found Shikamaru first, who was raising his eyebrow. This wasn't according to his well calculated plan. Slowly, the other eleven began showing themselves, all coming from their assorted hiding places. They all walked forward, forming a semi-circle around the Ayame standing in the center of town.

"Well, this is just weird…" She said as a cloud of smoke formed around her, when it cleared Naruto was standing in her place.

"You did good though, Naruto." Shikamaru said, watching Itachi still writhing on the ground in pain. "Itachi never knew the difference."

"This isn't right." Sasuke said, watching his brother. "There's something really off about this."

"You're right." Neji said. "His Sharingan should have seen it was a transformed clone, why didn't it?"

"Because," Kabuto said, stepping next to Itachi and leaning down to his side. "His Sharingan is leaving him. It's causing more harm than good now." Itachi looked at him; his red eyes squinted in pain were trying for a glare

"I'm not done yet!" Itachi stood up, his stance staggering. At the same time, Sasuke stepped forward, eyeing his brother down.

"You continue, Itachi, without me. I'm done fighting. I have no dealings with any of them." Kabuto said, making the real Ayame growl.

"You have no dealings with any of us? What about me?" She screamed, running forward. "I want Jakken back and I want him back _now_!" Her voice cracked and squeaked as she growled her words out, her hands forming signs at a dangerous speed as she ran. She stopped her forward charge and held her hands in front of her, forming a circle with the thumb and forefinger with each hand. As her Ayamagan activated, she shouted, "Wind Slice Jutus!"

A large arc of chakra-fueled wind shot out from her hands, aimed directly at Kabuto's chest. It was racing at the man at such a high speed it was almost too hard to see, even for Sasuke and Itachi's Sharingan. Kabuto attempted to dive out of the way, but it proved to be more harm than good, the arc shifted and followed his body, slicing clear through the left side of his abdomen. Being such a thin blade of chakra, Kabuto didn't even realize it hit him until he looked down and watched the blood pour from his side.

"What?" He asked, hoarsely, looking up at Ayame.

"Where is Jakken?" She growled, still holding her hands in the sign in front of her, the arc of chakra hovering behind him. "Tell me now, or I'll slice you again!"

Blood began pouring from Kabuto's mouth before he dropped his head and spit a large amount of the crimson liquid on the ground. He looked back up to Ayame's angry expression and smirked. "If I die now, you won't have your answer."

"You're not dying, I didn't slice any vital organs and you're stopping your own blood loss. Don't fuck with me, Kabuto."

"What do you have to offer me, Ayame? I mean, no one gets something for nothing."

"Really now? And what did your deal with Itachi entail?" Ayame asked, raising an eyebrow, but never wavering in her stance.

"He gets you and I get Jakken." Kabuto said simply.

"Why do you want her brother?" Naruto yelled, taking a step forward.

"For the same reason Orochimaru wanted Sasuke so damn bad. I need a new body."

Itachi started to laugh, drawing the attention back to him. "Orochimaru wanted Sasuke for his body? He wanted the Sharingan? To do what, defeat me?"

"Yeah, actually." Kabuto said.

Ayame ignored Itachi and focused herself back on Kabuto again. "Where is he, Kabuto? You're going to die either way, so tell me where I brother is."

"I see no reason to do that." He smirked, making Ayame angrier by the syllable.

"Bastard!" She growled, dropping the wind arc and forming a different set of hand signs. "Wind Void Jutsu!"

This, Kabuto remembered. He tried to move, but she'd already had him caught. Holding her hands in a gripping motion, she choked Kabuto until he almost fell unconscious, then she'd let him breathe. She repeated the vicious cycle of _almost_ killing him and bringing back to life over and over. Eventually, Kabuto couldn't take it anymore. It was getting difficult for the rest of the Konoha group to handle what she was doing.

"Ayame…" Sakura breathed out, staring at her strangely. Even Itachi took a whole new interest in her.

"That's amazing. I can't wait until I have that power." He smirked.

"You can barely stand, Itachi. What do you think you're going to accomplish?" Sasuke said, red eyes glaring down red eyes.

"This has nothing to do with you, little brother. Get out of my way!" Itachi attempted to charge Ayame, but was blocked by both Sasuke and Naruto.

Ayame was still strangling Kabuto, never taking her eyes off of him. Her entire body was radiating in a chakra-blue glow, the power of her Ayamagan shining through. She looked scary and evil, but she didn't care. Her brother was more important than anything at that moment, even the battle Sasuke and Naruto were facing.

Feinting to the left, he managed past both of them at the last second. Sasuke flashed himself in front of Ayame, holding his arms out protectively in front of her. Itachi pulled a kunai out of his holster, aiming it at Sasuke's chest. Knowing that if he dodged it, the kunai would hit Ayame head on, Sasuke stood still.

At the last second, Ayame and Naruto both saw what would happen. Not believing Sasuke would relinquish his revenge to save a comrade, the rest of the group was too shocked to move. Ayame, momentarily forgetting about Kabuto and freeing him, formed the hand seals for a wind wall in record time, stopping Itachi from getting to Sasuke. Unfortunately she didn't see Naruto speeding toward them, stopping in front of Sasuke and throwing his arms out. The kunai Itachi had aimed went straight through Naruto's chest and out the other side. It hit the wind wall and stopped, bending at the tip. Ayame's wind wall worked perfectly. Had she moved it forward even three feet it would have saved everyone including Naruto.

Pulling his arm out, Itachi and the group watched Naruto fall to his knees before falling on his side. Too shocked to move, everyone stayed still for a second. The second ended, however, when Ayame screamed.

"Naruto!" Ayame screamed, racing to his side.

The rest of the group, forgetting momentarily about Itachi and Kabuto, raced forward to tend to Naruto. Sakura was trying as hard as she could to heal the blonde, but the blood was rushing out too fast for her to deal with. With saddened eyes, she looked up to Ino, pleading for help. The blonde took a place beside Naruto, trying to help Sakura out. No amount of medical ninja training could possibly help anyone deal with a dying comrade, but Sakura and Ino were being extremely brave. Not a tear was shed until Naruto's heart quit beating. It was then that the tears began to flow.

Sasuke was standing there, entirely silent, until Sakura looked up to him. Her eyes conveyed what her voice could not. A single tear ran down Sasuke's pale cheek as the message sunk into his skull.

Naruto was dead.

* * *

CLIFFHANGER! Dun-dun-dunnnn!

Haha, sorry about the cliffhanger there, but I'm writing chappie 9 as we speak, so no fear you'll find out soon enough what is what.

Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 9:  
Sasuke's Destiny and Revenge**

_Sasuke was standing there, entirely silent, until Sakura looked up to him. Her eyes conveyed what her voice could not. A single tear ran down Sasuke's pale cheek as the message sunk into his skull._

_Naruto was dead._

----

Sasuke dropped to his knees, grabbing at Naruto's limp form. Burying his head into the blonde's hair, Sasuke cried for the first time since his parent's death.

"Naruto, you baka, why didn't you just let me take the hit?" Sasuke choked out, the tears still flowing. Sakura put a sympathetic hand on Sasuke's shoulder, her own tears flowing down her cheeks. Ayame fell to her knees, watching the way Naruto's limp body was being squeezed by Sasuke.

"I'm so sorry…" She practically whispered. "I wasn't quick enough…"

"It wasn't your fault." Ino reassured her. "None of us saw Naruto move, he was too quick."

"Dobe…" Sasuke breathed out, still clinging to his body. He looked up to see a satisfied smirk on Itachi's face, mocking him. "I'll avenge you, too."

He handed Naruto to Sakura, who clung to him desperately while watching Sasuke stand up. He walked ahead of the group and took his stance, holding it firmly.

"You think you can kill me, little brother? You don't have enough hate to kill me _and _protect her."

"I do now. Revenge on my family was a strong motivation, but add in the death of someone I love and it becomes enough. You will die tonight, Itachi." He held his katana in front of him with both hands, his knuckles turning white. "My ambition will finally come to be."

Itachi looked over his shoulder, taking in Kabuto's unemotional expression. "Why, Kabuto, didn't we have a deal?"

Kabuto didn't answer, just smirked. Sasuke's chakra almost doubled as he tapped into his curse seal, making the vicinity swirl with the power. As the wings protruded from his back, he allowed all the anger and hatred fuel him. Charging Itachi, he nearly knocked his brother backwards. Itachi's Sharingan failed as he hit the ground and his vision blurred dangerously. Summoning all of his remaining strength and chakra, he tapped into his Mengekyou, activating his last-ditch effort. Sasuke risked a glance at his brother's eyes at the wrong time, getting instantly dragged into the illusion.

Sasuke watched as his younger form ran down the street and entered his home, only to see his mother and father being slaughtered in their living room.

"This won't work again, Itachi." Sasuke yelled out. "I've seen this every night in my dreams and I'm numb to it. Is that the only trick you have?"

As if to answer Sasuke, the illusion changed. This time he was standing in front of Naruto, watching as the kunai pierced through his body in slow motion. The blonde's body fell to his knees, clutching his chest, his eyes looking at Sasuke with sadness and pain before they went blank as his body fell to the side.

Itachi was smirking, standing behind Naruto's corpse. He'd done it, he'd broken his brother down, and it was a good thing too. His chakra was running out, he'd only be able to hold this illusion for a few more moments. Focusing on Sasuke again, he noticed the smirk on his brother's face.

"Why are you smirking, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, confused.

"I told you, I'm numb." Forcing his own chakra through his body, his will power and determination allowed Sasuke to turn the illusion around. He felt a strange sensation take over his eyes and he smiled. "If Kakashi could gain the Mengekyou without killing anyone, then so can I."

"What?" Itachi asked as he felt himself being sucked into his own illusion.

Suddenly, he saw a dark haired teenage boy standing in front of him, his head bent low. Itachi didn't have to see the boy's face to know who he was. Shisui Uchiha, his best friend and make-shift older brother, the boy which he murdered to gain his ultimate power, was in front of him again. He'd long since blocked that teenage boy's face out of his mind, the guilt being more than he could handle at times. A lot of people thought he felt no remorse for anything he'd done, but they were wrong. They didn't know of the constant inner turmoil he'd endured over the years for what he'd done.

Apparently, however, Sasuke did know. And now Sasuke would use it against him. Itachi tried, desperately, to pull himself out of the illusion. But, as Sasuke appeared behind Shisui and walked slowly forward – katana in hand – Itachi couldn't do anything. His chakra was drained, his Sharingan had faltered, he was completely shattered and at the biggest disadvantage he'd ever been. His vision was going blurry, everywhere except around Sasuke and Shisui, keeping them in perfect clarity for him to witness. No weapons of any sort to help him out, Itachi had to choice but to watch as Sasuke brought the katana forward and attempted to slice through the boy's neck. Itachi yelled something incoherent and jumped forward, his neck taking the place of Shisui's.

Sasuke pulled out of the illusion to see that his blade did in reality what it did in the illusion. The katana made a clean slice the entire width of Itachi's neck, his head lay bleeding on the ground at his feet.

It was over. Itachi was dead. Sasuke had won. For some reason, however, the victory felt hollow. It almost felt like he'd failed instead of succeeded.

He turned around, seeing Sakura still clinging to Naruto's lifeless body. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke let the feeling of fatigue and chakra exhaustion to take him over and fell to the ground unconscious. Sakura laid Naruto down, carefully, and went to tend to Sasuke.

She looked up at Ayame and said, "His chakra is depleted."

"I can help." Ayame said softly, channeling her own chakra into Sasuke. "It's not a lot, but it should help."

"You can do it both ways?" Sakura asked, referring to her channeling other people's chakra into her own body. Ayame nodded, dragging Sasuke's body next to Naruto's.

"Where's Kabuto?" Neji asked, looking around with his Byakugan.

"He left, the coward." Kiba said, sniffing the air. "Now what do we do?"

"Sasuke needs a hospital." Ino said, feeling the raven's forehead. "And, Naruto…"

She trailed off, not really sure what she was going to say. Everyone knew what Naruto needed; just no one was willing to say it.

----

The group had taken turns waiting for Sasuke to resume consciousness. The waiting room of their hospital wasn't the biggest one, but it did the job. A couple people would leave the room, needing a breath of fresh air once in a while. Of all of them, however, the two who didn't leave the room at all was Ayame and Sakura.

Not knowing what else to do with Naruto's body, they laid him in a bed next to Sasuke. It was heartbreaking that he was gone, no member of the group dealing with it yet. Most opted to avoid the subject and pretend it didn't happen. It was easier pretending he was just injured upon seeing him lying in a hospital bed.

Temari and Kankuro would filter in and out of the waiting room, seeing if anyone needed anything. Gaara had been in once, but didn't say much. He'd just sort of stared at Naruto as if he didn't know what else to do.

After a while, the group stopped looking at Naruto, finding it easier to get through if they pretended he wasn't lying there dead. Unhealthy? Yes, but it helped them get through the waiting process slightly easier.

----

Sasuke opened his eyes, the overwhelming fatigue he had felt like a huge weight on his chest, making it extremely difficult to breathe. The blurriness cleared and he sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

He looked around the room, seeing his friends in the waiting room beyond the glass. None were looking in the room, or anywhere near the room for that matter. Wondering why, he began to scan the room. He saw another bed with a body, but the curtain was closed creating a silhouette of the person. Sasuke stood up and walked over, pulling the curtain back slightly. What he saw made his knees buckle.

Naruto was lying on the bed, perfectly still, not a machine hooked up to him at all. He still had blood covering the front of his orange jacket and over much of his left arm and side. Some blood was on his cheeks and neck, giving him a morbid look. His skin was unnaturally pale, almost blending into the sheet that was covering him. Tears began to form in Sasuke's eyes, a few slipping down over his cheeks. He walked over and sat down beside Naruto, running his fingers over the pale whisker marks that graced his face.

"You know, Naruto, I always kind of found those whisker marks attractive." Sasuke said, smirking slightly. Then, as the smirk faded and his voice took a serious tone, he added, "You shouldn't have done that, baka. You should have lived. You'll never be Hokage this way, you know." He looked up, blinking back tears before looking back into Naruto's face again. "I love you, Naruto. What am I going to do without you?"

Sasuke placed his forehead against Naruto's and let the tears flow, wetting Naruto's cheeks and eyelids.

----

Naruto hated being in this place. The leaky pipes, the smell of mold and damp floor, the smell of wet dog (or, more appropriately, wet _fox_); it was all too overwhelming. But, he'd endure it, and the _stupid fox_, because he had to. He couldn't leave, he'd tried several times.

As Naruto paced in front of the large cage, the fox stared down at him, glaring intensely.

"You almost died, you moron. Why would you _allow_ someone to pierce you clear through with a kunai? That is one pathetic way to die." Kyuubi said, or growled to be specific.

Naruto stopped pacing, his blue eyes glaring intensely at the fox before answering. "Like I _wanted_ to die, asshole!"

"Die?" Kyuubi laughed. "You're not dead. I'd call it an intense coma, not death."

"I'm not dead?" Naruto asked, flabbergasted. "But…but I can't get out."

"You're not healed enough to leave. I'm keeping you here to keep you safe until I can heal you."

"You're keeping me here to protect me?" Naruto asked skeptically. "But why?"

"Because," The fox growled. "If you die, so do I. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm stuck inside of you for as long as you live, right up to the moment you die. Since I don't want that to be today, I'm healing you. It will take _a lot_ of chakra, though. I'll be weak for quite a while, so don't use my chakra unless you absolutely have to for a while, deal?"

Naruto didn't know what to say, so he just nodded…slowly.

They were silent for a little while, until Naruto began having a light-headed feeling, which he voiced to the fox.

"It's normal, kid. You're beginning to go back, now." Naruto gave the fox a small smile. "Just remember what I said, no tapping into my chakra until I'm recovered or we'll both be in trouble."

"Deal." Naruto said, nodding enthusiastically.

"Go back now, Naruto. Just let the feeling take over, don't fight it."

His blue eyes closed as Naruto allowed the feeling to take over him. It almost felt like he was falling out of a high tree, only he felt like he was falling up instead of down. The entire situation was difficult for anyone to explain, but Naruto thought it felt a lot like dying in reverse. Instead of slowly _losing_ the ability to breathe, move, and communicate, he was _gaining_ the ability slowly. Essentially, he was dying in reverse.

Upon regaining his five senses, he found himself using one of them to feel a weight on his chest. Upon gaining even more of his conscious feelings, he realized the weight on his chest was breathing heavily and crying.

"I love you, Naruto. What am I going to do without you?"

The crying weight on his chest was Sasuke? The realization made Naruto jump slightly, drawing a reaction from Sasuke.

----

Sasuke was still crying when he felt Naruto jump; a movement that nearly sent the Uchiha bolting upright and screaming. He controlled himself, however, and simply sat up. Eyeing the blonde carefully, he waited for another movement.

Naruto's eye's squinted up tightly as a hand slowly moved to wipe the tears Sasuke had cried off them. Sasuke gasped, grabbing at the blonde's face.

"N…Naruto. Naruto, please, open your eyes!" Sasuke pleaded, needing to know if what he was seeing was true. It was impossible, wasn't it? Naruto had been dead for well over an hour. It was unheard of, unprecedented. How was this possible?

As if obeying Sasuke, Naruto tried desperately to open his eyes. Once opened, the room slowly slid into focus, revealing a desperate and crying Sasuke.

"Sa…'suke…" Naruto's voice cracked out, hoarse from his almost-death.

"Oh my God, Naruto! You're alive!" Sasuke wrenched him up from the bed, hugging him desperately. "Don't you ever do that to me again, you hear me? I'll take the damn kunai! Don't you dare save me again!"

----

"_Oh my God, Naruto! You're alive!_"

Ayame and Sakura bolted upright in their seats at Sasuke's exclamation. They both looked at each other, not sure if they believed it.

"_Don't you dare save me again!_"

The rest of the group exchanged looks for a moment before they all jumped up and rushed into the room.

----

Sasuke was ripped from Naruto as Sakura stole him, hugging the blonde tightly.

"Naruto, you're alive! How?"

Ayame hugged him from the other side, saying over and over again, "I'm so sorry, Naruto. I'm so sorry."

Even Ino jumped in, telling the blonde how stupid he was for taking the kunai. "You could have stayed dead, you know?"

At that sentence, however, everyone stopped and looked at each other.

"How did you come back, Naruto?" Sakura asked, eyeing him carefully, her fingers trailing over his forehead, neck and chest where the hole used to be, using her medical ninjutsu to feel for anything out of place. She found nothing. "You were dead, I know, I tried to heal you but you lost nearly all your blood. How…?"

"Kyuubi." Naruto said, trying to push the girls off him. "It really weakened him, though."

"Kyuubi?" Ayame asked, raising an eyebrow.

They all looked at Ayame, forgetting she didn't know the truth. Kiba smiled and pulled her aside.

"Naruto has the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him. The Fourth Hokage did it when he was born." Seeing the purely confused expression on Ayame's face, he looked up to Shikamaru. "Right, Shika?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru said, nodding. "You do know what the demon is, right?"

"Of course." Ayame said, looking over at Naruto. "I just…I mean…Jinchuuriki's aren't…aren't they…"

"Dangerous?" Shikamaru asked, smirking. "Does he look _dangerous_ to you?"

Looking slightly shocked, she stepped back. "No! No, of course not!" She held her hands up in front of her in defense. "I…I mean, it's just…"

Kiba chuckled. "It's okay. None of us really knew how to accept it either. But we all knew Naruto, the _real_ Naruto. After a while, the shock went away and we just accepted everything."

"Very well put." Shikamaru said, looking slightly surprised.

"Are you surprised?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru shrugged. "A little."

Meanwhile, being hugged nearly unconscious by three women, Naruto was trying to find Sasuke in the crowd, whose voice was still sounding through his skull.

_I love you, Naruto. What am I going to do without you?_

"Girls, can you let go?" Naruto said, his voice struggling to leave his throat.

"Oh..." Sakura said, giggling. "Sorry about that."

Ino was first to let go, followed by Ayame, Sakura was last. Once free of his confines, Naruto took a few deep breaths before checking around for Sasuke. Where could that Ice Princess have gone?

----

Although Naruto was now awake, Sasuke still had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. The feeling that everything he'd been though with that blonde would now be over. The truth was, Sasuke's destiny was revealed, and Itachi was dead by his hand. Hidden deep in his ninja tool pouch, Sasuke pulled out the slip of paper the council gave him. Written there were the terms of his freedom, which he re-read again.

_Upon the death of Itachi Uchiha, by your hand or another's, you will return to Konoha where you will be tried as a traitor. If you escape, ANBU will track you down and kill you on sight. _

Sasuke frowned and ran a hand through his hair, letting the paper fall from his other hand. He knew what '_tried as a traitor_' meant, he'd be placed in prison or worse. Since he left the village behind for Orochimaru, he was sure he'd get worse than just prison; a fact that was scaring him now more than ever.

Feeling suddenly that he'd not thought this entire situation through the whole way, Sasuke leaned against the wall of some random building, sliding down the wall to the ground. He pulled his knees up tight to his chest and hugged them, burying his head in his knees. He felt more alone now than he'd ever felt before and tears began creeping out his onyx eyes.

----

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked the girls, who were still close to him even if they weren't choking him with hugs.

"He's right…" Ayame trailed off as she looked through the crowded room, not seeing Sasuke anywhere. "Well, he _was_ here."

"Where did he go?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Maybe he's angry you pushed him off Naruto when we first came in." Ino snickered, seeing the glare Sakura was sending her way.

Naruto sat up, throwing his legs over the bed. "I'll find him." He stood up, waving off anyone who tried to help him. "I'm fine, I can walk."

No one said anything as Naruto left the room, only watched him go.

He searched Suna for his raven haired friend, not finding him until he reached the edge of the village. There, against an alley wall, sat Sasuke as curled up in his self as he could get. Slowly, Naruto approached him and knelt down in front of Sasuke.

He reached out his hand slowly, placing it on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke."

The stoic teen's head shot up, revealing blood-shot eyes and tears slowly creeping down his cheeks. "What are you doing out of the hospital?"

Naruto chuckled, wiping a tear from Sasuke's cheek. "The girls finally stopped choking me." Sasuke just nodded, keeping his eyes low. "Sasuke…did you mean it?"

Raising his eyes slowly, he asked, "Mean what?"

"That you…that you loved…me…" The blonde's cheeks were turning bright pink as he spoke, his tone sounding slightly embarrassed.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. "You…you heard that?"

"Yeah, well at least I _thought _I did. I mean, truthfully I thought it was just in my head at first." He stopped upon seeing the foreign expression on Sasuke's face. He looked almost terrified. Lowering his head, Naruto fought the stabbing pain of rejection. "You didn't mean it, did you?"

"Naruto, I…" Sasuke started, but didn't know how to finish.

Sitting in that alley allowed Sasuke to think of several things. One of which was his newly forming relationship with Naruto. The kiss – as well as _other _things – threw Sasuke into a whirlwind of emotions he never knew he had in him. He knew, in some way, that he'd always loved that idiotic blonde but it wouldn't work, especially not now. Not with his temporary freedom growing increasingly shorter by the minute. Once he got back to Konoha, he wouldn't be able to be with Naruto; instead he'd be going to jail or worse. Looking into Naruto's eyes, he found himself wishing he'd never made that deal. They were filled with hurt and rejection, a combination unlike any Sasuke had seen before.

"We…we kissed…" Naruto choked out, attempting to keep his voice steady and failing. "What was that?"

Sasuke sat up a little straighter, reaching for Naruto's arms. The blonde backed off, however, nearly falling backwards on his rear. Stumbling slightly, he stood up.

Sasuke followed his lead and stood up, trying to keep his voice calm. "It wasn't…"

"Wasn't what?" Naruto placed his hands on his hips, glaring intently at Sasuke. "Bastard, answer me!"

"We can't do this, Naruto. I'm sorry, but it won't work." Sasuke pleaded with him.

Instead of getting angry or arguing with Sasuke, Naruto simply dropped his head and turned to walk away. Stopping for a moment, he practically whispered, "I should have known. There was no way you'd stay, not even for me."

As he watched Naruto walk away, Sasuke dropped to his knees. Somewhere deep down he knew he just did Naruto a favor, but his heart was breaking all the same.

* * *

I am so mean to those two, aren't I?  
I'm sorry Sasuke and Naruto (especially Naruto since he seems to be getting the _worse_ end of the deal...) huggles 


	10. Chapter 10

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 10:  
Decisons**

"The mission was a success…mostly." Shikamaru said standing in front of Tsunade's desk.

"Mostly? I see all thirteen of you arrived home safely. What more did you want?" Tsunade said, her lips twitching up in a smirk. Shikamaru was one of her favorite chuunin to mess with, as she quickly learned.

"We didn't get the information on Ayame's brother, Kabuto ran away first."

Tsunade's smirk dropped as she looked at Ayame, whose face was the epitome of sadness - as was Naruto and Sasuke's albeit for different reasons. "Ah, I see. I'll put intelligence out on that information, until then I say you should all take a rest. You've earned it." As the group began to shuffle out of the room, she added, "Uchiha, you stay."

Once everyone else was gone, and upon receiving a lingering look from Sakura and Naruto, Tsunade spoke again.

"Do you require any sort of counseling?"

"No." Sasuke said, keeping his face emotionless. "I am fine."

"You understand the terms of your freedom – probation; I guess we'll call it – right?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, I understand. I'll face my punishment and assume full responsibility for my traitorous act."

Tsunade nodded, still eyeing him carefully. "Does Naruto know of the deal, Sasuke?"

A little taken back by her using his first name, his eyes widened for a second before gaining his composure. "No, no he doesn't."

"Don't you think you should tell him? He'll throw a fit if you don't…and I'm not dealing with him."

"He'll be better off not knowing, Tsunade-sama. With all due respect, if you're done I'm going to put what's left of my affairs in order." He bowed and left the room, leaving a shocked Tsunade in his wake.

----

Sakura was walking beside Ayame and Naruto, who looked more like they just came from a funeral rather than a semi-successful mission. The entire walk home from Suna was unbelievably quiet, due to the fact that Naruto was avoiding Sasuke like the plague. Since everyone was noticing, the trip was filled with strange looks and nodding heads, everyone trying to figure out what happened to their new favorite 'hidden' lovers.

Finally, upon having enough quiet and out-of-character Naruto, Sakura voiced her thoughts. "Okay, I'm tired of this. What is wrong with you, Naruto? I mean, I understand why Ayame is so damn quiet, but you should be happy. I mean, c'mon, you're alive!"

Naruto stopped, his head still facing the ground which was casting a dark shadow over his eyes, making them unreadable. At first he didn't say anything and Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but Naruto cut her off. "I don't feel like being _happy_, Sakura. It would be different if I had anything to be _happy_ about, wouldn't you say?"

"You're alive, Naruto. Isn't that enough?"

"No. I should have stayed dead; it wouldn't have made a difference…" He trailed off as he began to walk away, but Ayame grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Being alive is something to cherish. There are people in this village who love you and would care if you weren't here. You're life _does_ make a difference!"

"Ayame, with all due respect, shut up." His tone made Ayame let go of her arm and step back, mouth hanging open.

Sakura and Ayame were shocked beyond belief as Naruto walked briskly down the street toward his apartment.

"What was that about?" Sakura asked.

"I…I don't know…"

----

Sasuke walked down the lonely streets of Konoha, trying to find something to take the edge off his pain. He knew what he wanted, but it wasn't fair to Naruto. He'd pushed him away, unfortunately successfully, so he couldn't go crawling back before his punishment was handed out. His affairs, what's left of them, were now in order. He'd given everything he had to Naruto, incase his punishment was death. Everything included the Uchiha mansion he couldn't live in anymore, for obvious reasons, and all the money he had left. Sasuke figured it was the least he could do for the blonde, giving him the two things the teen needed the most.

His last wish was to tell Naruto everything, everything that was in his heart and soul. Seeing as though he'd severed any bond he's recently created with Naruto, Sasuke figured it would be easier said than done. But, it was worth a try.

Changing his course, he turned right and walked towards Naruto's apartment.

----

Ayame's words rang into his ears and the shocked expression on both of the girls' faces due to his reaction ran through his head. Naruto walked up the steps leading to his apartment, only to find the source of his pain and confusion leaning against his door. Upon seeing him there, Sasuke moved to let the blonde through. Naruto walked past him, never looking the raven haired teen in the face, and let himself in the apartment, slamming the door in Sasuke's face once inside.

Sasuke sighed, but expected it nonetheless. He teleported himself inside Naruto's apartment, slightly surprised the blonde didn't protect his home from such intrusions. Once his body was safely inside, he was thrown back into the door by Naruto's fist connecting, quite forcefully, with his jaw.

"Fuck!" Sasuke growled, trying his hardest to stand up. "What the hell, Naruto?"

"Why are you in my apartment when I – quite violently – slammed the door shut in your face?" Naruto fumed, rearing his hand back for another punch.

Sasuke held his hands up in defense, trying his best to think through the resounding pain coursing through his jaw. "I want to talk to you, dobe."

"We're done talking." Naruto was still fuming and held his fist tightly in a pre-punch position. "You've said all you need to!"

"No, we're not." Sasuke stated firmly, receiving a glare from Naruto. "There are still things I need to say to you."

"Like what? You here to make fun of me for believing you loved me?"

"No, Naruto…I do love you…but it's complicated." Sasuke took a step forward, trying to get closer. Naruto took a few steps back, nearly falling over his couch.

"You used me, then?"

"No! Please, Naruto, listen to me." He grabbed Naruto's face in his hands, holding it firmly and forcing the blonde to look at him. "No matter what happens tomorrow, know that I love you. Nothing will change that."

Naruto furrowed his brow, eyeing Sasuke carefully. "What's happening tomorrow, Sasuke? Are you leaving?"

"I…I don't know yet." Sasuke wasn't lying; he truly didn't know what the council would decide. At that moment, it could go a million different ways, only a few of which Sasuke _wanted _to consider, but all of which he did.

Tanned hands met his pale ones as they forced them from Naruto's face. The blonde practically threw them off him and turned around. "If you're leaving, then go. I can't do this anymore, Sasuke…just leave. You don't belong here anymore."

Those words cut deeper than any kunai or katana as tears began to slip down Sasuke's pale cheeks. The raven haired teenager teleported himself out as quickly as he could. Once on the street below, he ran hard and fast. Where he was running, he didn't really know. He just knew that he needed to be away from there, away from his only love.

Not paying attention to where he was running, he turned the corner too sharp and slammed into a red haired green eyed girl, knocking them both to the ground.

Ayame pushed at the person who landed – quite forcefully – on top of her. Finally being able to sit up, she saw it was Sasuke; with a very swollen and purple jaw.

"Sasuke, what happened to you?" She asked, trying to get the Uchiha to look at her. "You're hurt…"

"N…nothing…" Sasuke stammered, trying to stand up. Both girls shocked by yet another out of character friend, they exchanged glances.

"Sasuke let me heal that for you…" Sakura said slowly, edging toward a very shaken Sasuke. She placed a glowing hand on his cheek and healed it almost completely. "It will still be tender, but only for a few more hours."

"Thanks." He whispered, beginning to walk away from the two girls puzzled looks.

"Sasuke, what happened? Who hit you?" Sakura asked before Ayame interrupted.

"Better question, who would you _let_ hit you?"

Sasuke didn't answer but the look on his face at her question was enough for an answer for Sakura. "Naruto hit you. What did you…what happened?"

Raking a hand through his raven hair, Sasuke took a deep breath. He turned and faced both girls, a tear running down his cheek again. "I'll tell you, but only because I want him to know the truth." Both girls shook their heads in understanding. "C'mon, Naruto's apparently staying in his _own_ apartment tonight. We can talk in mine." At the word 'mine', Sasuke's head dropped slightly.

----

A young, brown haired boy, lie on a hard rock slab. The cave he was in was dark and damp, the only light source a few burning candles strewn here and there. Although his body couldn't move, his eyes were open and moving wildly from side to side. His peripheral vision showed he was alone, for the moment. He'd been trying to speak since his eyes opened, which had to be quite a few hours ago, but to no avail. The only sound that would come out was a low grunt, but nothing substantial, nothing that would prove to be communicative, nothing useful.

The sound of footsteps drew his attention, the muscles in his neck tightening in his intuition to turn toward the sound.

"Ah, you're awake then." A voice said. "Itachi was wrong, that bastard."

The young boy allowed a grunt from his throat, trying to get the man's attention. It worked; the man lowered his head over the boy, his scarred face making the boy take a sharp intake of breath.

"Yes, my appearance is out of the ordinary, which is why you're here. You'll help me by lending me your body as my vessel." The young boy's eyes widened drastically. "Oh, it's not so bad. If you're good, we'll go see your sister."

Another low growl from the young boy emerged after a strangled gasp.

"Yes, she's still alive. Little bitch hit me with some damn wind attack." The man raised his shirt, showing a scar covering much of his mid-section. After another growl from the boy, the man had enough. "Fine, I'll give you a potion to allow you to speak, but no screaming. I detest screaming."

Walking over to a small table on the other side of the cave, he pulled a bottle of red liquid from a small bag. He shook it slightly as he returned to boy's rock slab. He helped the boy to sit up slightly and poured some of the liquid into his throat. After a while the young boy could feel his vocal cords give slightly and tried to talk. At first an incoherent line of audio left the boy's throat before it became coherent, if not slightly hoarse and raspy.

"Who are you?" The boy spoke, the first words since he was kidnapped.

"Kabuto. Well partially Kabuto and partially Orochimaru. What is you're name, anyway?"

"Jakken Kishimaru."

"Yes, that's right. Your sister said that, I think. I really didn't pick up on it then. It's rather difficult to concentrate on names when having a wind arc as sharp as a katana aimed at your abdomen."

"Wind Slice…" Jakken said, his brown hair falling in his face Kabuto sat him up, leaning him against the cave wall next to his bed.

"Yeah, that's it. That little bitch could have killed me, too." Kabuto was standing in front of the small table again, fidgeting with some potions and a book.

"What did you mean when you said you want my body?"

"Exactly that, Jakken. I can't survive much longer in this body; the strain of having Orochimaru taking over is slowly breaking me down. However, if I transfer my mind and soul inside of you, I'll live a lot longer. It's Orochimaru's unperfected jutsu he's used for many years." Kabuto turned around, eyeing the boy carefully. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"I'm nothing special, you know. I'm just a boy with average shinobi powers. My sister's the special one in the family."

"Doesn't matter, your body will do. You think I'm only after power, Jakken?"

"Aren't rogue ninja usually after power?" Jakken asked, looking into the scarred man's eyes.

"How old are you, kid?" Kabuto asked, knowing the boy couldn't have been much older than nine or ten.

"Ten." He answered.

"Rogue ninja, huh? Guess if I were to give myself a title, that'd be it."

"Before you use my body, can you promise me something?" That caught Kabuto off guard, but he listened to the young boy, nonetheless. "Don't hurt my sister. The Ayamagan made her a protector, the epitome of good and purity, so you can't hurt her."

"If she comes after me, Jakken, and attacks first I cannot make that promise."

"But if she never does, you'll never go looking for her?"

Kabuto thought for a second before answering, "Deal."

Hell, what the kid didn't know, or couldn't control, wouldn't hurt him, right?

----

Shizune threw the door to Tsunade's office open in a flurry as two girls pushed into the room, bringing the poor dark haired woman with them.

"What is going on?" Tsunade asked, standing up.

"I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade." Shizune said, being very flustered. "They forced their way in here, damn teenage girls."

"Lady Hokage, we need to speak with you!" Ayame said, reaching her desk first. "It's about Sasuke!"

"Are they really going to sentence him to death? He didn't do anything _wrong_, per say…" Sakura joined Ayame at the desk, both girls leaning over it.

"Death? Where did you get that?" Tsunade asked, sitting back down.

"I know he left Konoha, but he didn't actually _hurt_ anyone here. And shouldn't the council take into consideration his killing Orochimaru and leaving the Sound village? And he rid the world of the last remaining Akatsuki member…shouldn't all that be taken in his defense?" Sakura rambled, ignoring the hand Tsunade held up to silence her.

"Sakura, quiet!" Tsunade said, rubbing her temples. "They've already taken into consideration all of that. They've also considered that he was out of this village and never left your side during the entire mission. From what I'm hearing from the council, they're gearing toward three months in prison or six months house arrest, both of which Sasuke can handle."

Both girls left out a sigh of relief. "Then why does he think he's dying?" Ayame asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because Sasuke feels like he _needs_ to be punished, he feels guilty for leaving. Add that to the internal guilt he must be feeling for killing his only living relative…"

"Ah, I get it." Sakura said. "But, why didn't he tell Naruto the truth?"

"Hell if I know." Tsunade sighed. "But the brat deserves to know why his little boyfriend broke up with him. Please explain it to him, God knows the Uchiha won't."

----

It was the day of the hearing. Sasuke looked around the huge circular room with the council, who was in a large semi-circle in front of him, all staring down at him. Some with compassion and understanding, others in indifference and hatred, but none of them looking like they'd wanted to be there or be in this discussion; the Uchiha wasn't sure how he should feel about that.

Of all the people crowded in that room, many of which he knew to see but knew not a name for, none of them were who he _wanted _to see – _needed _to see. None of them were Naruto. Not that it surprised Sasuke, it was just that a familiar and friendly face would have been appreciated. It would have been nice to see that flamboyant smile and shining cerulean blue eyes directed towards him, a common comfort he'd grown to need like oxygen without even realizing it.

Even the girls, who listened to intently to his story and admission only the night before, were tardy to his hearing. They'd told him they'd be late, for reasons he had yet to uncover, but it still hurt. He looked around the room again and saw a familiar poof; Kakashi was there now, a small comfort in a place of indifference and shame.

"Sasuke Uchiha." One of the council spoke, drawing Sasuke out of his thoughts. "Please step forward."

Sasuke did as he was told, his hands bound by chakra-enforced handcuffs. Two masked ANBU guards stood on each side of him, facing the council and standing perfectly still.

The councilman from before, Raizou, stood up, eyeing the Uchiha carefully as if calculating something. "The council will now begin the hearing of Sasuke Uchiha, currently being tried for crimes against Konoha. The punishment is to be decided during this hearing upon his completion of murdering Itachi Uchiha." Tapping his gavel on the desk, he stopped the chatter the room broke into upon hearing of Itachi's death. "We shall now begin."

----

"Tell me again _why_ I want to hear all about _Sasuke_?" Naruto growled out, trying for the umpteenth time to get both girls to shut up. "He's an asshole, I'm sick of hearing about him, dealing with him, worrying about him…just _shut up_!"

"He loves you, Naruto!" Sakura yelled, her voice almost matching his in temper.

"He has a hilarious way of showing it!" Naruto yelled, slamming his fist through his wall, which was way too thin to be considered an actual wall. "You don't just kiss someone like that and then tell them you 'can't do it' because of some bullshit reason you can't stay with them!"

"Naruto, you love him back, right?" Ayame said softly.

The blonde growled, his fist bleeding from forming the dent in the wall. "I…I-uh…" He dropped his head, fisting his hands in his hair and leaving streaks of crimson blood through the one side.

"Listen, Naruto," Sakura began, forcing the blonde to sit on the couch. "He had rules to his temporary freedom here. Upon Itachi's death, by his hand or someone else's, he'd return to Konoha and be tried as a traitor. Sasuke was so sure he'd die he went on this emotional rampage."

"And this has _what_ to do with me?" Naruto hissed out.

"He wanted you to get over him so you wouldn't be hurting when he went away…to jail or wherever." Ayame said, sitting on the arm of the couch Naruto was currently sitting in.

"He, for some strange reason, believed he'd be getting a death sentence. It explains everything, Naruto." Sakura said, watching the way the blonde hadn't moved, at all.

"Don't you see, Naruto? Sasuke loves you as much as you love him." Ayame placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, only to get it shook off as he stood.

"He doesn't love me…he never did." With the, the blonde left, leaving Sakura and Ayame alone in his apartment.

"Well, that worked." Sakura sighed.

"We still need to support Sasuke." Ayame said, standing up and grabbing Sakura's arm. "C'mon, let's go. Maybe Naruto will have a change of heart…"

They agreed, although neither one believed it. The blonde was, after all, stubborn.

----

The council was looking extra menacing while they eyed the Uchiha, awaiting his defending speech. Having already prepared for the worst, he didn't prepare for a speech.

"Uchiha, do you have anything you'd like us to consider in your defense as we prepare your punishment?" Raizou asked.

Sasuke looked up, his eyes meeting the council's directly. It was during this time Ayame and Sakura entered the council room, taking a seat beside Kakashi without disturbing anyone. "I do not deny any thing I've done, to this village or any of its inhabitants. With that said, however, I'd like to stress that I haven't injured or killed any member of this village…"

He was cut off by Raizou slamming his fist on the desk and yelling, "Bullshit!"

"You've never hurt anyone, Uchiha?" Raizou asked, standing up. "What about Uzumaki? You tried to kill him; twice if I'm not mistaken!"

From the sidelines, Kakashi sighed. He knew eventually this would come up, but how Sasuke would sweet talk his way out of this, no one knew. Before the Uchiha could open his mouth to answer, the door to the large room was thrown open, creating a large thundering bang which echoed within the walls.

"What's the meaning of this?" Raizou yelled, searching for the culprit, only to see a blonde standing in the doorway. "Uzumaki?"

Upon hearing the name, Sasuke whipped around, nearly sending one of the ANBU in a frenzy. The ANBU grabbed at his arms, holding the raven haired teen in place.

"Naruto…" Sasuke breathed out, watching as Naruto walked forward and right past Sasuke, taking a place in the front of the council.

"He didn't kill me, obviously." Naruto said, his voice surprisingly calm. "Besides, why would you care? This entire village has hated me since I was barely a day old, no one ever cared what happened to me then."

"This isn't the same, Uzumaki."

"No, you're right. This has nothing to do with me. We're here to talk about Sasuke, right? Then let's talk about Sasuke."

A young woman on the council cocked her head to the side and inquired, "Are you going to give us a speech in his defense, Naruto?"

"Yes, I am, if it _pleases_ the council." Naruto put an emphasis on the word, making it seem as if there was no respect there at all. "Sasuke may have left the village, but he's right in saying he never killed anyone from here. I hold to the idea of the curse seal messing with his thoughts, making the entire situation something out of his control."

"There's no evidence to support that." The woman said, perching her chin in her laced fingers.

"No, not scientific evidence. I know Sasuke, and I know he's good. He's an amazing shinobi and he's got a kind heart when he wants to. The things he did under the seal's influence make me believe Orochimaru was tainting and twisting his thoughts, reactions, and emotions."

"Very well put, kid. As it stands, however, you're no doctor." Raizou said, smirking.

"No, but I am!" Tsunade said, sweeping into the room with Jiraiya following closely. "We've been doing research on this curse mark, and we believe in Naruto's theory."

This entire time, Sasuke stood entirely still listening to Naruto's speech. The tone the blonde was using was almost forced, as if he was forcing himself to sound as calm and collected as he did. The Naruto he thought he knew could never hold himself together that well, nor knew that big of words. This Naruto was different, mature. It was almost scary.

"Research? Since when?"

"Since we'd been able to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout, Raizou." Tsunade glared at the man. "The seal feeds off of hatred and anger. Because of that, Orochimaru placed a direct connection from his mind to the victim, in essence having partial control over the thoughts of his victim."

"The thoughts may have been Sasuke's own, but if Orochimaru didn't like the turn of events they took, he could…twist them slightly." Jiraiya said, winking at some random girl in the audience.

Tsunade pinched the white haired man hard before continuing. "I, as the Fifth Hokage, urge the council to punish the Uchiha with house arrest. During his casual imprisonment, Sasuke will undergo a series of seal removals, in the end he will be fully removed of the seal and fully under control of his emotions and thoughts."

"And, if after all that, he's still evil and a threat to Konoha?" Raizou asked.

"Then I'll kill him." Naruto said, making everyone gasp.

The room went wild with chatter, most of it coming from a very distraught Sakura who kept yelling that 'Naruto is crazy'. Raizou hammered away with his gavel, breaking it in half with his effort. After the room finally calmed down, he spoke again.

"We will leave to make our decision."

* * *

I promise that, eventually, this will be happier. Maybe...hopefully... Hope you're enjoying my story!!! 


	11. Chapter 11

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 11:  
Punishment**

Naruto was avoiding the onyx eyes burning into his back, trying desperately to get his attention. Had Naruto turned around, he could have seen the hurt and desperation coursing through those onyx eyes, but he refused to turn. He'd been hurt way too much by those onyx eyes and the emotions they held, so much so he couldn't bring himself to turn around, to face those damn eyes.

The room was filled with awkward, light chatter; most of it based upon the last thing Naruto said since entering the council chambers. _Then I'll kill him._ Those four words were still resonating throughout everyone's minds, that and what Sasuke must have thought when they were spoken.

He'd never felt pain this deep, Sasuke decided as he stood there trying desperately to get Naruto to look at him. The pain settled in his chest like poison, causing his heart to race at the speed of a freight train. He sent Naruto another stare, this one more intense than the last, but it didn't do any more good than the other ones. Naruto's resolve was amazing.

The attention of the entire room went from their internal thought trains to the door as it opened. The council was returning from their deliberations with Raizou in the lead. It felt like an eternity before they took their seat, at least to Sasuke and Naruto. With everyone's attention on them, the council all looked to Raizou with uneasy eyes; a look everyone hoped would be explained.

"Uzumaki," Raizou began, his loud voice booming through the room. "Since you took it upon yourself to become Uchiha's legal council, then we'll give you the choice of his punishment." At his words, the room broke out in chatter again. Even Tsunade yelled something out, which was overwhelmed by the crowd's booming disagreement.

"What?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced over his shoulder at Tsunade and Jiraiya, who simply shrugged. The blonde sighed, silently cursing Jiraiya for talking him into this. When he went to ask Tsunade what kind of punishment Sasuke could actually receive, he didn't expect to be drawn into a discussion on Sasuke's mental state, or that of the curse seal. And he sure as hell didn't expect to be thrust into a legal battle between Sasuke and the council. But, he was here now, all alone. Those two perverted old bags didn't prepare him for this.

"Option one, Uzumaki." Raizou began. "Uchiha spends six months in a maximum security prison with a permanent chakra block. Option two, Sasuke undergoes the seal reversal Tsunade and Jiraiya are so hell-bent on. Upon his completion, and _only_ upon his completion, he will serve three months under house arrest." Naruto began to open his mouth, his brain immediately choosing option two, but Raizou interrupted him. "Understand, Uzumaki, that if Sasuke decides to skip out on _any part _of option two, you will be held entirely responsible and relinquish the right to promote to any level past chuunin."

Naruto was staring dumbfounded at the councilman and mouthing, "What?" as the entire room began to fill up with chatter again.

"I mean everything, Uzumaki, including your ridiculous dream of becoming a Hokage, as if you could anyway."

Those words hit Naruto, forcing him to glare at the man. He glanced back at Sasuke, seeing a confused expression flickering over his face, but his eyes still showing hurt and desperation. He took a deep breath, trying to find his voice. Facing the councilman, he reformed his glare at a double the intensity and made up his mind. "I choose option two, and I understand the consequences of Sasuke skipping out on _any_ part of his punishment."

Raizou looked slightly shocked, but smirked nonetheless. "Very well, then. Uchiha, you will be taken to the medical facility of Hokaga-sama's choice. Upon completion of the seal reversal, you will be taken to the Uchiha District to be held under house arrest and constant observation. This time, however, constant observation means ANBU guards, _not_ Mr. Uzumaki. Any questions?"

Sasuke couldn't form words or move any muscle in his body. Had Naruto just given up on his dream…for him? No, that couldn't be. He misunderstood. There was no way Naruto would agree to those terms. If he would have picked option one, there would be no repercussion. Not like this option, but why risk it?

"Uchiha!" Raizou yelled, shaking Sasuke from his thoughts.

"No, no sir." Sasuke said, his voice low.

The next few moments went by like a breeze, almost intangible. The one moment he held clearly in his mind before being whisked away from Tsunade's ANBU guards was the feeling of Naruto's arm brushing against his as he walked past Sasuke. And then there was the low whisper of Naruto's raspy voice saying, "Don't you dare make me regret this, bastard."

----

"How could you agree to this?" Tsunade asked Naruto while forcefully throwing the boy in her office after the hearing. "Raizou will use _any_ excuse he can to keep you from raising above a chuunin. You gave him free will over you."

"I did what I had to do to save Sasuke." Naruto growled, ripping his arm from Tsunade's grasp. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked away from Tsunade's piercing gaze and out the window.

Jiraiya leaned up against Tsunade's desk, crossing his arms over his chest and taking a deep sigh "Your bond with that kid will be the death of you."

"Damn near was." Naruto said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Both sannin were quiet for a few moments, just watching Naruto who was deep in thought. The boy's eyes were drew down, eyebrows knitted together. When he finally looked back over at them, finally noticing the two pairs of eyes concentrated entirely on him, he smiled the biggest fake smile he could muster up.

"Don't." Tsunade said, her voice stern. Naruto's smile dropped immediately, his eyes a plethora of confused and questioning emotions. "Don't you dare pretend this is nothing but a joke. You need to understand this is serious, Naruto. What you just agreed to…"

"I know what I agreed to." Naruto said, his voice holding a maturity no one knew existed in him. "Just remove the seal from that bastard. If it truly was the seal making him crazy, then we've healed him and I won't need to worry about it. If the seal didn't do anything…then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"You're pretty calm about that, Naruto. I mean, you did just put your dream of Hokage on the line." Jiraiya said, eyeing the blonde carefully for any hidden emotion. Naruto had gotten good at hiding emotions over the years.

"One slip up, Naruto." Tsunade continued to lecture. "One at all and that's it. It's all over."

"I understand." Naruto said. "Can I go now?"

He didn't even wait for an answer, he just left the room. That was enough of that lecture, as he was sure Sakura would be giving him one shortly.

----

Jakken was sitting on the slab with Kabuto standing over him.

"You're still not strong enough, kid. You won't be strong enough for quite a while."

"I'm sorry, Kabuto-sama…" Jakken looked up into Kabuto's mismatched eyes, a sad expression flickering off of his own face.

"A few more months, Jakken. Just a few more." Kabuto sighed, walking out of the cave for the second time that day.

There was a reason Kabuto held onto this child so thoroughly, so obsessively. He felt Jakken was special. Jakken would bring Ayame to him, and then he'd get the power Itachi couldn't.

Jakken was his bait.

----

Sterile white rooms always gave Sasuke the feeling of foreboding. As if they were telling him he would finally meet his end due to some sort of hospital error, something he couldn't control. It had always scared him, and he was actually sort of eased to see Sakura walk through those doors to annoy him. At least, then, he wouldn't be alone. He watched his heart rate and other statistics beep and flash on the monitor beside his bed, it being the only thing he had to watch. Tsunade put him in a private room, a room with no windows and seals covering the doors. It made him feel uneasy seeing those seals, knowing they were put there for him. They were to protect anything outside of the room from the curse seal's evil power.

The door to the room opened, allowing in Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"Are you ready, Sasuke?" Tsunade asked, standing beside his bed. Sasuke just shrugged. "We're going to sedate you, so you won't feel any pain."

"Trust me, this reversal is painful." Jiraiya said, smirking. "More painful than it was to receive it."

That made Sasuke's eyebrow raise. "I could have done without that information."

"This will take roughly three hours, give or take a few. We're not exactly sure it's definitely going to work…" Tsunade said, uneasiness in her voice.

"Something's better than nothing." Sasuke sighed.

"You want this, Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked.

Sasuke fisted his hands in the white sheet he was covered with. "I just want this over with."

"Very well then." Jiraiya said, pulling a few scrolls and books from a bag he was carrying.

Tsunade began sedating Sasuke, risking a glance towards the door.

Outside of the door, Naruto was seated between Sakura and Ayame. He'd not said a word all morning, but simply showed up and sat down between the two girls. It worried Sakura more that he hadn't said anything more than it would have had he come in the door screaming. Naruto being silent just wasn't something she was used to.

"He'll be fine, Naruto." Sakura tried. "Although slightly unorthodox, both sannin are extremely gifted and talented, Sasuke will be fine."

Naruto nodded slightly, keeping up his streak of quiet.

Two hours later a very flustered Tsunade and a very exhausted Jiraiya emerged from the room. The three in the waiting room, who never moved an inch, looked up at them expectantly.

"He's fine." Tsunade said, getting a resounding sigh of relief. "He'll be out of it for a while, but he's fine."

Naruto let a small smirk play on his face before standing up. Everyone who expected Naruto to walk into Sasuke's room was surprised beyond anything when, instead, the blonde walked out of the building.

It wasn't long after that the stunned group all jumped at Sasuke's voice begging for Naruto.

----

Because the first phase of Sasuke's reversal went so smoothly, the sannin decided to do the second phase right away. When it went smoothly, they decided to do the third phase just as quickly. As they prepared Sasuke, they should have seen the nearly insignificant heart palpitation. If they would have caught it, Sasuke would still be conscious and not in a coma. Unfortunately for Tsunade, she wasn't watching his heart rate, she was watching the seal as it faded away slowly, barely leaving a scar. As the last pigment of black was being erased from Sasuke's pale skin, his heart slowed to a stop. It was all Tsunade and Jiraiya could do to get his heart to start again, and even though it was now beating, it wasn't beating nearly as fast as it should be.

Tsunade walked into the hallway, seeing the eyes of Naruto and Sakura staring at him expectantly. Their looks of hope slowly faded as Tsunade's saddened eyes bore into them. They feared the worst, but what was actually happening wasn't much better than their current thoughts. He may not be dead, but he was damn close.

It was the first time Naruto went into Sasuke's room, and the last reason he wanted to go in for. After everything they'd gone through, all the heart ache and pain, Naruto feared it would end here when they finally had a way to save him.

Sasuke's body was lying limp and pale on the hospital bed, not moving save for his shallow labored breathing. The monitors he was hooked to were beeping constantly that something wasn't right. Breathing too slow, heart beat too low, pulse is so low its unreadable, everything that could go wrong apparently was going wrong. It scared Naruto beyond any ninja fight he'd ever been in. Even facing Orochimaru didn't send the white hot pain through his chest and the constant icy shiver down his spine. Fighting back the tears he felt coming on, he sat on the edge of Sasuke's bed.

Whispering his tanned fingers along the pale skin of Sasuke's cheeks, he knew that there should have been a reaction, a slight jump of facial muscles at feeling those fingers ghosting over his skin, but instead Sasuke laid perfectly still as if Naruto had done nothing. Sakura tried to comfort the obviously distraught Naruto, only to have herself completely ignored, he was too engrossed in watching Sasuke breathe, if only barely. Giving up on the idea of comforting anybody, Sakura just asked Tsunade if there was anything she could do to help, receiving a slight shake of the head.

"He'll probably be out for a while. We're not exactly sure what is going on, though. We're not exactly sure what caused his heart failure." Tsunade said, her voice soft and low.

"The curse seal? Could the curse seal have caused it somehow?" Sakura asked, flickering her eyes between the monitors and Tsunade's expression.

"Like she said, we're not sure." Jiraiya answered from his position of leaning against the wall.

"If you want, Sakura, you can do some research on the seal. All the information we got from Orochimaru's hideout is in the study behind my office." Tsunade didn't have to say any more, Sakura gave Naruto a quick caring glance before racing towards said study.

Four hours later Naruto was still in the same position, never taking his eyes off of Sasuke's chest. If his breathing changed, even slightly, Naruto would have known. His ninja trained eyes were picking up every little thing about him, from his breathing to his heart rate, and locking it all in him memory. He wondered, for a second, if Sasuke felt this way when he himself _died_ not more than a week prior. Naruto took a deep breath and scooted closer to Sasuke. The emotional ninja training every ninja just go through did nothing to prepare him for watching his best friend - something more? – die. If we was dying, which Naruto hoped beyond hope wasn't. He leaned himself down, hovering his face over Sasuke's.

"Bastard." He whispered. "What are you doing? You wanted that seal off, now wake up and enjoy it being off."

Nothing. Not so much as a twitch. Naruto got a little closer and tried again.

"We can do this, Sasuke. We can get through this, together."

A slight twitch of the hand, which Naruto didn't catch, occurred.

"I thought you told me you loved me, bastard. Is this how you're going to show it?"

Sasuke gave a bigger twitch, his hand jumping more than before. Naruto still didn't see it.

A tear slipped down Naruto's tanned cheek. "I love you, Sasuke. Can't you see that?" The tears filling his eyes forced him to blink, allowing more of them to escape down his cheeks. When his eyes opened, he saw a pair of onyx eyes staring back at him. He jumped back, not having seen those eyes opened prior to blinking, and damn near fell off the bed. "Sasuke!"

"Na…Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was hoarse as he spoke. He reached a hand forward to grip Naruto's cheek and the blonde let him.

"God, Sasuke, you scared the fuck out of me."

Naruto expected a sarcastic retort, but instead got Sasuke wrapping his arms around Naruto's neck.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I thought they were going to kill me. Please don't hate me!" Sasuke begged and pleaded, holding on to Naruto as tightly as he could.

Shocked, Naruto just froze. He didn't know what to do, or how to move. Instead, he just sat there and allowed Sasuke to hold on to him as if his life depended on it. It wasn't everyday Sasuke clung to him like this, begging for…well, begging for anything. Sasuke didn't beg because Uchiha's just weren't like that. Uchiha's didn't do a lot of things that normal humans did. But, over the years, Naruto had some to realize that. And, when taking certain things for granted, if they didn't happen that way, it scared him.

Cerulean met onyx as Naruto tried to see if Sasuke was still doped up. It was the only explanation he could think of that would be making his friend act this way. He found his answer in the dilated pupils of Sasuke's; the sedative was still in effect.

"Please forgive me, Naruto. I need you." Sasuke was holding him tighter than before, begging Naruto for the answer he needed.

Still not knowing exactly how to react, Naruto just hugged Sasuke back and soothingly stroked his back. "I need you, too, Sasuke."

----

Tsunade could hear someone running down the hallway as fast as their legs would carry them and turned around. Upon further inspection, she found it was two people speeding down the hallway.

"Sakura, Ayame, what are you two doing?" She asked, eyeing both girls carefully.

"Ayame helped me in the study and we think we found something that will help Sasuke." Sakura exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. "

"Are you going to make me _guess_ what it is?"

"We checked over his records and compared them to the files from Orochimaru's and we found one thing a little off. Sasuke's chakra."

"His chakra?" Tsunade asked Sakura, who simply nodded and motioned toward Ayame.

Taking her signal, Ayame began her part of the explanation. "When Sasuke activated the seal, he tapped into the power of the seal which mixed with his native chakra. It's still mixed with it, but the seal isn't there anymore."

"True." Tsunade said, nodding in agreement. "So, now what?"

"We need to remove all of his chakra, forcing his body to create fresh, curse seal-free, chakra." Sakura said, smiling.

"Ah, of course!" Tsunade exclaimed. "We'll need a safe way to do it, though."

"I can do it." Ayame said. "My Ayamagan allows me to tap into other people's chakra. If I drain him of it – not all of it, of course! – then I can dispose of it in a safe way."

"How?"

"Well…I can just train it all out of my system. Or just create a force field and let it drain that way. I'll figure something out, Lady Hokage." Ayame said, shrugging.

"The cursed chakra won't affect her; she's taken in Sasuke's chakra before." Sakura said, covering all the bases.

"Well, you two are smarter than I give you credit for. Go ahead, give it a shot."

As the three girls walked in the door, they each stopped dead. There, in the hospital bed, was Sasuke lying on Naruto's chest, cuddled into the blonde as tightly as he could be. Had it not been that surprising, it would have been an adorable sight. They resisted the urge to 'ooh' and 'aww', but just barely.

Shaking the blonde lightly, Tsunade woke him up and smiled at his confused expression. "Wake up, brat. We have to talk to Sasuke."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, sitting up. It was then that he saw the two girls standing in the doorway and blushed a deep red. "Oh…" Waking Sasuke, who refused to move at first – he was way too comfortable – Naruto maneuvered out of the bed and toward the door, throwing Sasuke a look that said 'I'll be back'."

He stood beside the girls as Tsunade explained the procedure, stating that his heart rate still wasn't where it should be. As Ayame performed her jutsu, she sucked as much chakra from Sasuke as she could, immediately feeling light headed.

"Wait…" She said, staggering slightly. "I have to dispel some of it." She formed a hand sign and created a force field that stretched around the entire hospital. She kept looking around, as if looking for the light blue dome around her before she realized what she did. "Whoa…"

"Where is it?" Naruto asked, looking everywhere.

"Look…out there." Sakura said, pointing out the window.

The window had a light blue film over it, the force field's glow emulating from it. Ayame's eyes widened before walking toward the window.

"There is no way I did that. I'm not that strong." She breathed out, still staring at the dome that was surrounding the hospital.

"Sasuke's chakra is stronger than yours, remember?" Sakura said.

"Now that's a force field!" Naruto said, a smile on his face, as he stared out the window.

Drawing it back in, Ayame cleansed Sasuke of the rest of the evil chakra, only leaving a small trace so as he didn't pass out. Immediately his heart rate began to climb to a safer rate, making Tsunade feel a little easier.

"I think you're going to be fine, Sasuke. Maybe a few more days, and you should be able to go home to your house arrest."

"Oh, goodie."

----

"Lady Hokage?" Ayame asked, walking into the Hokage's office.

Tsunade was seated behind the desk, papers scattered everywhere. She looked extremely busy, if you didn't see the sake bottle she kept sneaking sips of that was hiding between a couple stacks of paperwork.

"Yes?" Tsuande asked, looking up to see Ayame make her way into the room. "What can I do for you?"

"Have you found anything about Jakken yet?" She asked, hope filling her voice.

"Not anything to report since yesterday, when you asked the same thing…" Tsuande said, rubbing her temples. Truth be told, Ayame was getting a little annoying on her quest to find Jakken. Almost as annoying as Naruto was when he wanted to go searching for Sasuke.

"Oh, ok…" Ayame said, turning to walk out the door. Two ANBU guards came into the room, and pushed Ayame out the rest of the way. Frowning, Ayame turned to glare at them when they slammed the door in her face. She stopped, a little too stunned to move, when she heard them begin to speak.

"We've found Kabuto's hide out, Hokage-sama. He's not too far off in the Wind Mountains."

"He's been seen with a young boy, no older than nine or ten. You were right, he's preparing for a body transfer but the boy is still too weak."

"What should we do, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade didn't say anything for a while, but then took a deep breath. "Do some more reconnaissance; I can't have any mishaps if we decide to go get him."

Ayame's mouth dropped open. If they _decide_? What decision needed to be made? Jakken was good, Kabuto kidnapped him, Jakken needed saved. There it was in black and white. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Drawing her eyes down, she began walking out the door. If Tsunade wouldn't help her, wouldn't go after her brother, then Ayame would do it herself.

* * *

I really wanted to post you guys a new chapter tonight, since I took a day off from writing. I hope you enjoy it. Next chapter will be some serious SasuNaru action, so don't be surprised if it takes a little while to get here. lol. XD I want to make sure I do this next part correctly. It's special. hinthintwinkwink 


	12. Chapter 12

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 12:  
Admittance is the First Step**

The waitress, Ayame, sat another bowl of ramen down in front of Naruto and smiled softly. "Here you go, Naruto."

"Thanks, Ayame." Naruto smiled back before diving in to this bowl much like the four that came before. He was worried about Sasuke, and what better way to drown your anxiety then in a bowl of ramen? There wasn't one, at least not to Naruto.

One thing that always remained constant in Naruto's life was the simple fact you could always tell how nervous, frightened, or just plain worried Naruto was by how many bowls of ramen the blonde went through. And, today was a bad day. A day bad enough to worry even his ever-so-faithful Gama-chan frog pouch. And, as fate would have it, his day would only go from bad to worse before it got better, if the better part ever came.

Ayame Kishimaru's red hair fanned out behind her as she ran full speed to find Naruto, the only one in this village who would listen to her, or so she thought. She found him exactly where everyone said he'd be: Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.

"Naruto!" She said breathlessly, sliding to a stop in front of the stand. Naruto whipped around, nearly knocking over his bowl of ramen in the process.

"Is Sasuke okay?" He asked. His mind immediately focusing around the only reason he could assume she'd be here for.

"Sasuke's fine, I think. No, I'm not here for Sasuke." Ayame said, walking forward. Naruto let out a deep sigh, urging her to continue. "Tsunade knows where my brother is, but she's not sending anyone to rescue him."

"Why not?" Naruto asked, raising a blonde eyebrow.

"I'm not so sure…but I overheard where he's at and if we leave now…"

"No." Naruto said, turning back to his ramen. "If Tsunade won't send anyone then there's a reason. Let her work, you'll get your brother back."

"What?" Ayame was taken back. "But…but we could save him. We could bring him home."

"It's too dangerous for us to go until we know everything." Naruto said, still not facing her.

A deep frown set on Ayame's face, her eyes glaring into Naruto's orange-clad back. "Really?" she growled out. "Like you waited to know everything before running all over the place trying to find your precious Sasuke?"

Naruto turned around, eyeing her carefully. "That was different."

"Because it was you or because it was your precious Sasuke?"

"Because we knew everything then. We don't know everything now."

"Bullshit!" Ayame growled, turning on her heels. "If you won't help me, then I'll do it myself."

"Ayame!" Naruto said, standing up and grabbing her arm. "Just go talk to Tsunade, tell her what you heard. I'm sure she'll explain everything to you."

"Whatever." Ayame ripped her arm from Naruto's grasp and walked briskly away from the ramen stand.

Naruto took a deep sigh before turning back to his ramen, picking at it with his chopsticks. When the waitress asked him about Ayame, he sighed again. "Was I that angry when I was trying to find Sasuke?" He received only a smirk and a 'oh, I don't know…' in response, giving him in answer in spades. He was that angry, wasn't he?

The curtain covering the opening to the restaurant flapped as someone entered the shop. The owner yelled out his usual "Welcome!" to the newcomer. Ayame looked from Naruto to the newly opened curtain and smiled.

"Iruka, welcome back!" Ayame said.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, turning around.

"Hello, Naruto." Iruka smiled, sitting next to him. "How is Sasuke doing?"

Once again, Naruto let out a deep sigh. "They're getting his place ready for his house arrest, he'll be released tomorrow." He was still picking at the bowl in front of him, not really picking anything up in his chopsticks.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" His old teacher asked, eyeing him carefully. He sat down beside the boy, but didn't motion to Ayame for his usual order. "You look like you've had a rough day."

"Rough doesn't cover it." Naruto said, staring into his bowl. "I'm just confused…really confused."

"Confused about what?"

Naruto looked into the dark eyes of his makeshift guardian, trying to convey what he needed. He needed a father figure more than anything. "Iruka-sensei, can I talk to you about something…something important?"

Iruka smiled, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Why don't we go back to my place and talk, Naruto? It will be quieter there."

Naruto smiled in response, digging around in Gama-chan for enough money to pay for the many bowls of ramen.

----

Tsunade tried to smile, really she did. It was the look that Sasuke kept giving her that was stopping said smile. He couldn't help but look at her that way. She just informed him that six ANBU guards would be escorting him to the Uchiha District, where he'd be staying in his childhood home for the duration of his house arrest. It wasn't so much the house arrest that was scaring him _that_ he could deal with. It was where he'd be serving it. Just the thought of being in that place, seeing the same spot his parents were murdered, sent a jolt through his heart.

It wasn't that he didn't know he'd be going there, he heard Raizou as well as the rest of the crowd. Now, however, it fully sunk into his brain exactly what he'd gotten himself into.

"Can…can I see Naruto?" Sasuke asked, fisting his hands at his sides. He might be able to get through living there, if he had someone to help him through it. Someone like Naruto.

The blonde woman in front of him seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. "Technically there is nothing in the rules that says he can't _visit_ you there. But I won't force him, only if he wants to."

Sasuke perked up until the last five words. What if he didn't want to? What if Naruto honestly never wanted to see him again?

----

Iruka sat next to Naruto, trying to pry what was troubling the young blonde out of him. So far, Naruto had only stuttered incoherent words and taken several deep sighs; nothing substantial.

"Naruto, I find it's helpful when you just spit it out." Iruka tried again, smiling warmly.

Naruto looked at him with big blue eyes, suddenly extremely self-conscious. A plethora of thoughts were racing through his mind as he stared at Iruka. Never had he realized how nerve-racking telling someone your inner-most secret was. "I…I…" He took another deep breath before forcing his words out. "I think I'm in love with Sasuke." Naruto waited for Iruka to say something or gasp in disbelief or, hell, even slap him. Instead, Iruka smiled and patted his hand.

"So, you finally figured it out, did you?" Naruto just stared at him, his mouth hanging open. "Naruto, there always was something…_special_…about your relationship with each other. I think the only people who didn't see this coming was, well, you two."

Getting over his shock, if only slightly, Naruto asked, "Is it _normal_? I mean I am in love with another boy."

"Naruto, if one thing stays constant in this world it's that you can only follow your heart. And, if you heart is leading you toward Sasuke, then it's your destiny to be with him."

Naruto looked away from Iruka and down to his hands, his mind in deep thought. Iruka stood up and walked toward the kitchen, figuring the young boy might need something to drink to ease his thoughts. After making the tea and pouring it into a couple of cups, he came back to the living room only to find Naruto wasn't there. The only thing left was a slip of paper that said, "_I have to see him, Iruka. Thanks for everything._"

----

Sakura was frantic. As was Ino.

Ayame wasn't anywhere in Konoha.

Worried about the young girl's welfare, especially after she apparently overheard the ANBU reporting their recon mission, Tsunade asked Sakura to look for Ayame. She had looked over a third of the village before finding Ino, but not Ayame. It was after that that Ino decided to help, and still no luck finding her.

They were tired and tapped out of places to search. Everyone was checked off, except for Naruto whom they couldn't find either. It was like the day for missing people in Konoha.

Ino looked at Sakura and sighed, plopping herself down on a park bench. Sakura sighed in return and sat down beside her.

"What if we go to Neji or Hinata?" Ino asked, tapping her foot nervously.

"Why? She didn't really talk to Neji, did she?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, they can look for her with their Byakugan, duh!" Ino rolled her eyes, looking up and down the street. "We need to do something before we go back to the Hokage, we can't just tell her we can't find Ayame."

"Ah, not a bad idea, Ino-Pig!" Sakura smirked, looking around the surrounding area for some clue to where either of the Hyuuga's or Ayame was.

They began their walk to the Hyuuga compound, hoping to find one or the other training there. To their luck, they found Neji, who was training with his uncle.

Upon being seen, Hiashi turned around, his white eyes piercing through both girls. "Can I help you?"

"Um…" Ino began, looking to Sakura for support. Neji's uncle had always gave her a shiver, she just didn't like the way he looked at her as if she wasn't good enough to be in his presence.

"We're sorry to interrupt," Sakura began. "If you permit, we would like to speak with Neji. It would only take a second."

Hiashi eyed her carefully before flipping his hand at Neji, motioning the boy to go. "Quickly, we are training."

"Yes sir." Sakura said, bowing. "Thank you."

Neji walked toward them, a slight smirk playing on his face. Once he reached a position far from his uncle's prying ears, he turned to both of them. "What do you require me for?"

"Can you do us a huge favor, Neji?" Ino began. When Neji raised his eyebrow in response, she smiled slightly and continued. "We can't find Ayame…anywhere. Can you use your Byakugan and help us out?"

"You lost her?" Neji asked slowly, raising his eyebrow further up. "How did you lose her?"

Sakura looked like she was going to be sick before answering, her face set in a deep frown. "She's been trying to find someone who would go with her, no one would. She overheard Tsunade and some ANBU guards discussing where Kabuto had her brother. She's dying to go save him, but Tsunade isn't even telling her they have an idea because it's still too dangerous. I'm afraid, since no one would go and apparently even Naruto said no, she just went on her own."

"Ah." Neji said, closing his eyes and focusing his chakra. When they opened, with the veins pulsing at his temples and the corner of his eyes, he began scanning the area for her chakra signature. After a moment, he deactivated it and sighed. "She's not in Konoha."

"Dammit!" Ino growled. "Now what are we going to do?"

"We have to tell Tsunade, it's our only option." Sakura said, her eyes casting down in defeat. "I can't believe she'd go on her own."

"Her brother is important to her." Neji said, gaining both of the girls' attention. "He's the only family she has left."

----

Padding through his old childhood home, Sasuke felt a rush of nostalgia, and a rush of guilt and pain. So far he'd avoided the living room area at all costs, as that is where his parents were murdered. He'd done well, but he knew he couldn't avoid it for long. It was, after all, the biggest area in the house and being the living area, he was bound to venture into it eventually. It was something he was procrastinating, however.

He stepped up the stairs, hearing the creaking of the wood echoing though the overly quiet house. Reaching the top, he stopped for a moment taking in the look of the upstairs hallway. It was, quite honestly, exactly how he remembered it. There were four small oak doors leading to the three smaller bedrooms and a bathroom, and one double hung door leading toward the master bedroom, all surrounded by off-white walls giving the upstairs a Victorian style. Sasuke stood there, taking in the surroundings and drinking in the memories they held. The doors to his brother's and parent's bedrooms would probably never be opened. He just could not imagine ever having a need to open either of those rooms, ever. Instead he walked past them all and entered his own bedroom.

His room was exactly the same as he left it, not being inhabited since the morning of the day his parent's were murdered. The blue walls and dark oak trim were darkened due to the dark blue curtains hanging over the small windows. He maneuvered over to them, sliding the heavy curtains on the black curtain rods until sunlight poured into the room. It was then that he realized something wasn't right. Someone had been inside his room. Something was different, and now he began to feel it. Someone had been inside his home. The windows each had a paper seal covering one small section, a seal that was used for containing chakra.

He growled deep inside his throat and fled from his room. Ripping the door of the guest room open, he found the same type seal there and in the bathroom as well. He ran towards his parent's room, but stopped at the closed door. He placed his hand on the handle, not sure if he wanted to know. He could take an educated guess as to what he'd find in there, and in Itachi's room as well, without even opening the door. But, seeing is believing and he wanted to know. Or did he?

As he began to turn the long brass handle on the huge double doors of the master bedroom, the sound of the doorbell stopped him. He froze in place, not believing he was about to open _the_ door. He sent out a prayer to Kami-sama for stopping him and trudged down the stairs to open the front door instead.

Once the door swung open, he was frozen in his spot yet again. There stood Naruto, arguing with an ANBU guard.

"Uzumaki, you know he's under _house arrest_, meaning he's not allowed any visitors."

"I'm not a visitor. I'm the next Hokage and you _will_ let me in!" Naruto growled back. He had, however, thought this through…slightly. "Grandma Tsunade sent me here to make sure he's okay with living in this house. Don't you _dare_ deny me access to him!"

"Hokage-sama sent you?" The guard asked. If his eyebrows had been visible, they would have been raised nearly to his hairline. "She has nothing in on this; this is entirely the council's decision."

"Well, if you don't let me in then you'll deal with the fallout, not me." Naruto said and began to walk away. For a moment, Sasuke's heart sank down to his stomach until the ANBU guard took a deep breath.

"If you get my ass in trouble, Uzumaki, I will hunt you down."

Naruto turned on his heels and walked past the guard, past Sasuke, and into the huge house. Oh, what a trickster couldn't get away with…

Even though he and Sasuke were teammates for a few years, he had never been inside the Uchiha District's gate, let alone been inside Sasuke's childhood home. He'd guessed the boy was rich_er_, but not like this. The house was huge. A quick estimation told Naruto his entire apartment would fit inside the living room and forum area. His mouth formed an "o" as he let his eyes trail over the inside of the house, until they fell on a confused raven haired teen still standing in front of the open door.

Sasuke waited as Naruto's blue eyes fell on him, his head was spinning around on his neck so fast the blonde resembled an owl. Once they did, however, he didn't know what to say or do or how to act. Sasuke shifted his stance and looked down at his feet, an act that was very un-Sasuke-like. He was acting more like an embarrassed-Naruto than his normal stoic self. While the blonde was spinning his head around like a top, Sasuke was taking in what Naruto had decided to wear that day. Instead of his normal ninja garb, he had on a simple white shirt and khaki shorts. No orange in sight. His headband was tucked into his back pocket, a small sheath of black hanging out over the opening. Because of the lack of anything in the way, his blonde spikes were hanging down his forehead, some sneaking into his eyes. It was always that look that drove Sasuke insane, the messy just-woke-up look only Naruto could pull off. Because he was so busy checking the blonde out, he wasn't ready for the sudden jolt of blue that captured his vision. Immediately, his cheeks reddened at being caught.

This struck Naruto as odd as he watched the spectacle play out, watching the flush spread across Sasuke's cheeks. He thought, for a brief second, he'd caught the older teen checking him out, but decided against it. Sasuke Uchiha doesn't 'check people out', does he? The silence was playing into the room like a deafening audio track on repeat. Silence was something Naruto was never adapt to handling, having dealt with it most of his life. Now that he didn't have to, he hated the noise – or lack thereof. Deciding it was better to break the hated silence, he tried to think of something, anything at all, to say. Finally, he rubbed the back of his neck and eyed Sasuke carefully.

"Um…so…how are you doing?"

Sasuke's gaze lingered on the floor for another second before slowly raising them up. Once his onyx eyes met Naruto's cerulean blue, the flush to his cheeks darkened slightly. Not trusting his voice to be steady at that point, he went for his default answer. "Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That's not an answer, bastard."

"I'm alright." He mumbled out.

Sasuke's eyes were trained to anything that wasn't Naruto's eyes as he tried to think of something to say, but the blonde beat him to the punch.

"Do you even want me here, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, forcing the dark eyes to look at him directly. "If you want me to leave, then I will."

A moment passed where neither moved nor spoke. Hell, breathing was difficult. When Naruto thought he'd had his answer he began to walk toward the door, only to get a pale hand grasping his wrist.

"Please don't go."

The way Sasuke whispered the words out, and the emotion it held in them, made Naruto stop and face the teen. Sasuke was looking toward the floor again, his long bangs hanging in front of his face.

"Please, just stay here…with me."

Naruto really didn't know what to do. One part of him wanted to take the raven haired teen in his arms and hold him until neither could stand any longer. Another, maybe even more prominent, side of him wanted to bitch slap Sasuke and scream for breaking his heart. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, all scattered and whipping around inside his head. Sasuke's hand was still hanging onto his wrist, nails digging into tanned skin. He was sure that, if Sasuke ever let go, there would be crescent shaped nail marks in said tanned skin.

He tried to see into Sasuke's eyes, but the long dark bangs were still hanging down in front of his face. Naruto thought for a second that they'd gotten longer since he'd last seen it, but two and a half years can do that to hair. He leaned forward slightly, raising his eyes to attempt to see past the bangs and into Sasuke's eyes. But to no avail, Sasuke's eyes were still hidden.

"Sasuke, please look at me."

Finally he looked up to meet concerned cerulean eyes. He could see something swirling around in those eyes, the something he'd been afraid to see. Naruto was going to ask him the questions swimming around his head, and Sasuke wanted to ask questions too. The questions, however, weren't so easy to ask.

At least, to Sasuke.

Naruto looked at him, the answers he needed pushing most prominently in his mind.

"Why did you lie to me?"

Sasuke's head snapped up. "Lie to you?"

"You told me you were leaving, or at least you let me believe it."

"No," Sasuke said, shaking his head lightly. "I didn't lie to you. I honestly thought they'd kill me when I came back."

"Why? Why would they kill you? You didn't hurt anybody, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. Then, dropping his voice he added, "At least not physically."

"Naruto…" Sasuke breathed out, raising a hand to touch the side of Naruto's face. The blonde stepped back, not letting Sasuke that close. During his step back, the hold Sasuke still had on his wrist faltered and he let go. "I was a missing S-class ninja, that's what they're _supposed_ to do."

"Bullshit!" Naruto spat, glaring. "Why would Tsunade let me go all over the country looking for you if she knew they'd kill you when I brought you back?"

"I…I don't know, Naruto. I…you…didn't bring me back."

"So, you didn't come back for me at all?" Naruto asked, hurt clouding his eyes. "You didn't care that I searched for you?" He wasn't even looking at Sasuke anymore. He was looking anywhere but him, anywhere at all. The pain and anger was coming in strong waves now, with no intent of letting off. Everything Naruto had felt within the past two and a half years had bubbled up inside him, and now with Sasuke standing there listening to him, Naruto let it all go. "I guess not, huh? I mean, hell you did try to kill me. Twice. I guess my hope for actual love from you was far too much."

"Naruto, please…" Sasuke tried again, reaching his hand out. "I…I do love you." His words were far too difficult to say without stuttering and stalling. One thing Sasuke had never been good at was emotions. Especially when they were boiling so intensely inside of him he wanted to cry. Crying was also something Sasuke didn't handle well.

"You love me? Since when?" Naruto asked, stepping back. He still wasn't allowing Sasuke to touch him. "You let me believe they would kill you!"

"I thought they would!"

"If you would have _thought it through_ we wouldn't be in this predicament."

"Are we talking about me coming home, or me leaving?" Sasuke asked, catching the sudden change in topic.

Naruto growled before answering, drawing his eyes down. "Both."

"I did think it though. I just had to kill him."

"Oh yes, Sasuke, I know! It's all you've talked about since we were twelve."

"It was important to me."

"Important? What about me being your 'Most Important Person'?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"You were, Naruto. You are!" Sasuke held out his arms in emphasis.

"Important enough to _kill me_?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess you must _really_ love me, Sasuke."

"Naruto, please…" he reached out to Naruto, grabbing him by the shirt sleeve. "I'm so sorry. I don't know how else to make it up to you, but I want to." Sasuke took a deep breath and held onto Naruto tightly.

Naruto looked away from Sasuke's face, finding his next set of words hard to form. Finally, settling on the one thing his mind kept thinking to say, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm in love with you, Sasuke, but you're driving me insane!"

"I thought I was protecting you, I just didn't want you to get hurt."

They stared at each other for a while before Naruto finally hung his head in defeat. He was tired of fighting and arguing with Sasuke. For once, he just wanted to _be_. Just be with Sasuke. No rivalry, no competition, just him and the Uchiha. Naruto smiled inwardly at that thought. _Just him and the Uchiha._ _His Uchiha. _It was a nice thought, one that he'd been thinking for quite a while. He could do it. He could be with Sasuke and only Sasuke. If the bastard would stay in Konoha, with him.

Sasuke's arm shifted its grasp on his sleeve, shaking Naruto from his thoughts. A pale hand slid up his shoulder and rested on his cheek, caressing the whisker marks donned there. Naruto's eyes met Sasuke's as the Uchiha blushed.

_This is it. _Sasuke thought to himself. _Just me and him, no interruptions. It's my chance to finally make him see. _

Trying not to lose his nerve, for the second time since coming home, he leaned forward and ghosted his lips over Naruto's. The breath in Naruto's throat hitched as he felt those familiar warm lips dancing millimeters away from his own and let his eyes flutter closed. Seeing this as a good sign, Sasuke leaned his head in slightly, brushing his lips against the blonde's. A jolt of something electrifying coursed through both teens as Sasuke's palm pressed against Naruto's cheek, pulling him closer, deeper. The raven haired teen pressed his lips against Naruto's fully, breathing in his scent. Naruto pulled back, looking into the lust-filled eyes of Sasuke before forming a lopsided smile. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke's slender waist, digging his nails into Sasuke's lower back. Using the hand that wasn't holding onto Naruto's cheek, Sasuke slid it down the blonde's chest, scraping his nails along the way. When he reached the hem, he fingered it slightly before lifting it up an inch or so, just enough to slide his fingers along the perfect tanned skin. Naruto took a sharp intake of breath at the feeling of Sasuke's fingertips against his stomach muscles, ghosting over and making the muscles jump.

With desire filling both boys' eyes to the point of bursting, Naruto pressed his body against Sasuke's and trailed a series of kisses from Sasuke's mouth, across his jaw line, and around to his ear lobe. Sasuke allowed his head to fall back, revealing the pale skin on is neck. Taking the invitation, Naruto experimentally licked and nipped at it, gauging Sasuke's reaction, before attaching his lips to the tender skin at the base of his neck. Sasuke was trailing his hands up and down Naruto's back, digging his fingers into the shirt and bunching it up, slowly pulling it over his tanned skin. Naruto pulled back just enough to allow his t-shirt to be removed before re-attaching himself to Sasuke's tender skin, which was slowly turning a deep red due to Naruto's ministrations.

A cold current danced across Naruto's skin, revealing a series of goose bumps. He shivered slightly, pressing himself deeper into Sasuke's body warmth. Pulling back, he pressed his forehead against Sasuke's and took a deep breath. "Do you have a warmer place to do this, Sasuke?"

Sasuke opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow at Naruto's question. "Like a bed?"

"Works for me." Naruto smirked, grabbing Sasuke's hand tightly in his. "You lead, I have no idea where I'm going."

"You…you, uh," Sasuke stammered, looking from their entwined fingers to Naruto's cerulean eyes. "You sure you want to do this, Naruto? I'm not sure I could take it if you left me in the morning."

Naruto cocked his head at Sasuke, the emotion he had in his voice catching Naruto's attention the most. He let go of Sasuke's hand and wrapped his arms around the older teen's neck, pulling him in for another deep kiss. When he pulled away his husky voice whispered out, "I've never wanted nothing more than I want this."

It was all Sasuke needed to hear as he grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him toward the stairs. After what felt like an eternity, they made it to his bedroom. The two of them, lips locked together, tongues intimately wrestling between them, fell in a heap on Sasuke's childhood bed. Somehow magically, both boys were removed of their clothes. As they fumbled for dominance they were rolling around on Sasuke's small childhood mattress, which was barely big enough for even one boy anymore. Naruto pinned Sasuke down, holding his arms above his head and smirked.

"I won."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow before wriggling around, attempting to escape the blonde's grasp. But to no avail, Naruto wasn't moving.

"Told you."

"You may have won _this_ time, Uzumaki. This will not be an 'every time' thing."

Naruto cocked his head, an adorable expression playing on his face. "Do you have any idea how we do this, 'suke?"

Sasuke snorted and shrugged the best he could with his shoulders pinned down by Naruto's elbows. "I've never done this before."

"Wanna just wing it?" Naruto asked, giving a nervous smirk.

Sasuke sighed before thinking of the perfect idea. He began to smirk before bringing his head up off the mattress to kiss Naruto. The blonde, being caught up in the kiss, lost his grip on Sasuke's hands. The Uchiha saw this as an opportunity to turn things around in his favor and slid his leg up Naruto's and around his waist. The blonde melted into him, keeping his body pressed tightly against Sasuke's. He let out a gasp as the older teen's body began moving below him, grinding himself against Naruto. Sasuke kept the friction going until he felt the blonde turn into putty and practically melt into him even more. Using every ounce of energy he had, he pushed against Naruto, flipping them over. With himself positioned on top of the blonde, he began slowly trailing his tongue down Naruto's chest and stomach.

"Oh God Sasuke!" Naruto moaned, grabbing the raven haired teen's shoulders. "You flipped me, you bastard."

Sliding himself back up the blonde, Sasuke captured Naruto's lips again. "Naruto, you're sure about this, right?"

"Sasuke, I want to do this…with you. I don't think I could do this with anyone _but_ you." Naruto breathed out, trying to rid the Uchiha of his shirt. Sasuke smiled before helping the Naruto rid him of his shirt.

Oh, if only the fan girls could see them now!

----

She could feel him, see him, but she felt as though she wasn't getting any closer. It would take her at least four more hours to get there, and that wasn't remotely soon enough.

"I'm coming, Jakken. Just hold on a little longer. I promise I'm coming." Ayame furrowed her brow and forced more chakra to her feet. She would get there if her life depended on it, she would save Jakken.

* * *

So, um...I know that took a while, but there is a good reason. I had trouble writing the sex scene. So, instead of messing the entire thing up, I chose to write a make-out scene (which I'm still not amazing at) and imply the sex. I really hope I did okay. I know it wasn't what you all _wanted_ to read, but I hope you all love me after this anyway. I would rather not write it than write it and have it suck. Horribly. Hope you understand. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 13:  
What Happens After**

The sun cascaded into the room creating sunrays that stretched the length of the room. One hit Naruto's face, rousing the blonde from his deep sleep. His eyes fluttered open, revealing pale skin in his vision. He was lying on Sasuke's chest, his face buried deeply into the warmth of his – lovers? – body. Naruto sleepily smiled as he buried his face again, smelling Sasuke's musky scent. He heard Sasuke's deep voice moan sleepily and looked up. Sasuke brought one hand up and brushed a piece of hair from his face, turning his head away from the light.

Naruto smirked at the sight before sliding himself carefully off of Sasuke. He padded out of the room and stumbled down the hall, looking for the bathroom. Instead, he stumbled into a hallway closet, something he thought might be a guest room, and a room slightly bigger than Sasuke's that was fully furnished. Deciding to ask him for a grand tour later, he opened the last door on that hall, only to find it was actually the room he was looking for.

After finishing what he went in there for, he stumbled down the hall, down the stairs, and through a large living area. The area itself had no furniture in it at all, just a huge bare floor. The floor, however, had one area covered in white tape, tape shaped like bodies. Naruto stumbled backwards, not ready to see the scene of Sasuke's parent's murder. The floor was still stained in blood, a deep crimson and orange that had long since soaked into the floorboards.

Turning around quickly, he walked into what could be the kitchen. Being right, he stumbled to the fridge, only to find there was no food in there at all.

"Duh, he just got here yesterday." Naruto said to himself.

Not fully realizing he was, in fact, still naked, Naruto opened the door and called out for any ANBU guards still guarding the mansion. He received the same guard from the day before, only this time he was snickering.

"Uzumaki, um…put some pants on before you summon people."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking down. He immediately blushed and placed his hands over his sensitive area. "Heh, heh…hold on a minute."

Naruto dashed up the stairs and straight into Sasuke's childhood bedroom. He scrambled around until he found his boxers and shorts and quickly dressed himself. In all the commotion of the room, Sasuke didn't move. It was a miracle, with the way Naruto was practically dancing and jumping around the room.

He ran back down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, until he stood in front of the front door again; the guard was still snickering behind his mask.

"Well, I guess I know what you two were doing all night. Not that we couldn't see through the windows, mind you." Naruto gaped at him, not sure of what to say. He mumbled something, but the guard just began to laugh. "What did you want, Uzumaki?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, a confused expression playing on his face until he remembered he summoned the man in the first place. "Oh! Yeah! Sasuke needs some food."

"He will have something delivered, as he will everyday. But just enough for him since he's so _supposed _to have visitors."

"Oh…okay…" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "That's all, I guess."

"Whatever." The man disappeared, still snickering.

Naruto turned around and walked back towards the stairs, only to see a shaken Sasuke standing there.

----

The sleep was beginning to leave Sasuke as he turned over in the bed. He stretched an arm out, hoping to wrap it around a certain blonde, only to find a bare mattress. The second realization hit Sasuke he sat straight up in the bed. Wildly, his eyes scanned the room. No Naruto, no Naruto's clothes, no trace of the blonde anywhere. He swung his long legs off the bed and stood up, picking up pieces of his clothes.

_Naruto, I love you._

_I love you too, Sasuke. _

_You'll still be here in the morning, right?_

_Of course! I've never wanted anything more than I've wanted this._

Was it all just a lie? Was it nothing more than a ploy to get what he wanted from Sasuke? Was it all payback for hurting him? Sasuke ran his hands through his hair, gripping it tightly. Naruto wouldn't leave him, would he? After he promised? Naruto never went back on his word…right? Especially after…after last night…

He stumbled out the door, fully dressed, only to hear voices. Familiar voices.

"Sasuke needs some food."

"…he's not _supposed _to have visitors."

Was that Naruto? Was Naruto still there?

The Uchiha flung himself toward the stairs, desperation making him act so out of character. Naruto was down there, he just had to be. He wouldn't leave him, not now. He watched as a pair of blue eyes locked onto his onyx ones, a smile spreading wide on his face.

"Naruto…you didn't leave me." He knew his voice sounded desperate. At that moment he didn't care. He knew his tone would put a whole new set of worrying thoughts into the blonde's already over-crammed head, but he needed him to know. He needed Naruto to know that what they did was important, and that he didn't break his promise. He was still there and Sasuke was overjoyed. Sasuke was ecstatic. Sasuke was happy.

And because Sasuke was happy, Sasuke smiled. A real smile. The first Naruto had ever seen. The smile even reached Sasuke's onyx eyes.

----

Izumo and Kotetsu were stationed at the gate, as they mostly were. One looking through a magazine (full of pictures he shouldn't have been eyeing on the job) and the other polishing a kunai. It was a pretty usual routine, when it wasn't interrupted by certain S-class wanted ninja showing up unexpectedly or when the new girl in town wasn't dragging in the mutilated body of a certain S-class wanted ninja.

So much for their normal routine.

They weren't sure which one reached the girl first, all they knew was when they got there, she collapsed in their arms and the bodies of two male ninja made a thud on the ground behind her. They weren't even sure how she was carrying them. There was no tarp, no makeshift gurney, just her and two bodies floating in the air.

As the two chuunin (who were fed up dealing with S-class anything!) managed to carry all three bodies to the Hokage, they were met with stares and a world of question that neither one could answer. Mainly by other chuunin and jounin. Finally, one chuunin helped them, instead of asking annoying questions.

"Thank you, Shikamaru." Izumo said, panting slightly because he had to carry two of them.

"Yeah, no problem." He sighed, carrying Ayame in his arms. "She sure is troublesome, isn't she?"

Tsunade wasn't ready for the barrage of injured bodies thrust into her office, at all. Infact, she screamed Shizune's name so loud the poor woman heard her boss all the way at the bottom of the stairs. As Shizune slid into the room, her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. As did Sakura and Ino's, whom were there also. They were in the middle of explaining to Shizune's how they couldn't find Ayame anywhere in Konoha. Imagine their surprise to see she was laying there along side a young boy with brown hair and the mutilated body of Kabuto.

"What the hell?" Sakura shrieked, throwing herself down beside Ayame. "What did she do?"

"She went to fight him on her own." Tsunade breathed heavily and got up from her desk. "I can't believe she actually won."

"Won?" Ino asked, her voice reaching an octave above her normal tone. "She's half dead!"

"She'll be fine." Sakura said, her green glowing hands hovering over the injured girl's body. "Just a deep gash, nothing she hasn't healed before."

"Kabuto is dead." Tsunade said, her voice serious as she examined the man. "She got her revenge."

"Who's the boy?" Ino asked.

"Jakken." Sakura answered, moving over to examine the boy. "He's in a coma, I think."

Of everyone in the room, Shikamaru had said the least. But he broke his silence as he stared down at the two bodies of the Kishimaru orphaned children. "What do we do with those two now, Lady Hokage?"

"We need to know what Kabuto may or may not have done to the boy. We'll have to run some tests, which I'm sure she'll be ecstatic about." Tsunade stood up and turned to Shizune. "See that this body is…_properly_ disposed of." She motioned toward Kabuto before returning to her desk and the paperwork placed upon it. And, of course, the bottle of sake hidden deep within the piles of said paperwork.

----

Sakura approached the Uchiha compound with shaking and sweating hands. She'd never once been inside Sasuke's childhood home, let alone the Uchiha compound. Never in all her fifteen years had she ever wanted to see a place more, however. It was just the principal. The idea of what happened there and that she had a puppy-love obsession with the sole survivor of the tragedy. All of it made her want to walk through there like walking through the set of a horror movie. The pull it had was kin to the pull of seeing a disaster site or a plane crash. It was human, it was normal, it was constantly nagging at the back of her head like a chicken pecking the ground for worms.

She brushed her pink hair from her face, the wind whipping it to and fro. The address showed her it should be at the end of the street she was currently on, but the houses were all covered with vines and weeds, it was hard to read the house numbers. She spied one with a partially covered nine, making it look like it could be an eight. Walking up to the huge doors, she attempted to brush the vine off the small metal sign, but was stopped mid brush by an ANBU guard grabbing her wrist.

"What are you doing, Ms. Haruno?" He asked her, his hand gripping her wrist tightly.

"I am on official business from the Hokage." She snapped, ripping her arm out of his grasp.

"Yeah, I heard that one before. Do you have proof?"

"Yeah, I do." She pulled a piece of paper out of her pouch and thrust it in his face.

He read it, gave her an apologetic look, and stepped back. "I'm sorry, Ms. Haruno. Uzumaki gave me a hell of a line last night and I…"

"Yeah, Naruto's like that. Can I go in now?" She said, not hiding the impatience in her voice. She always hated the way ANBU guards seemed to have a sense of superiority over regular ninja, especially ninja who were ranked lower then they were.

"You, uh…might want to wait a while." He smirked behind his mask.

"Why?" She looked from him to the door and back to him again.

"They are a little…busy."

"They?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean Sasuke and Naruto?"

The guard just smirked and dashed himself back over the side of the house, where the other ANBU guards were standing, watching the spectacle before them. Sakura, who was brimming with questions by now, inched herself to where they were and cautiously peered into the huge window. What she saw made her gasp and cover her mouth with her hand. She didn't want to close her eyes, but she knew she shouldn't be watching this either. Caught between her inner fan girl and her outer womanly morals, she just stared.

Sasuke had Naruto pinned against the kitchen counter, his mouth quickly traveling down the blonde's chest. Naruto was breathing heavily, his eyes shut tight and his head thrown back. It was if he was anticipating something, something pleasurable by the smile slowly creeping on his lips. He said something, not that anyone outside of the house could hear it, but Sasuke apparently did. The usually stoic teen looked up and smiled – which in turn made Sakura gasp again – and finished what he started. It was then that she noticed the blonde teen was naked, entirely. When Sasuke's head disappeared behind the counter island, blocking the view of much of Naruto's lower half (much to Sakura's inner fan girl disappointment), the group had a collective giggle or sigh or gasp, none of which made Sakura think standing there was appropriate.

She watched the tip of Sasuke's raven hair bob up and down from behind that kitchen island counter-top, Naruto's breathing becoming heavier and heavier with each bob. Finally, when Naruto's hands fisted into the raven hair tightly and his mouth opened to release what looked like a moan, the erotic act was over. At least that part of it. When Sasuke stood up, kissing Naruto deeply and then, grabbing his hips, turned him around, Sakura turned around to the group and put her hands on her hips.

"I thought you were to guard him, not watch him have sex!"

"We were told to _watch_ him, actually." One guard scoffed. "And, trust me, we'll be doing just that."

"I am highly doubting that's what Hokaga-sama meant." Sakura growled.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her, Sakura. Besides, you looked like you were enjoying it."

Forgetting momentarily that they were above her, she growled and launched her fist at the guard. "I said _get out_!"

Both teens, who were very busy inside the kitchen, stopped what they were doing and stared in the direction the voice came from. Both of their mouths dropped open as they watched a pink haired kunoichi scream and punch an ANBU guard. Naruto turned his head, craning his neck to look at Sasuke, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Were they…_watching_?" Naruto asked.

"I, uh…I think they were." Sasuke answered, pulling himself out of Naruto. The blonde turned around and began searching for his clothes. Sasuke was fixing his, adjusting himself, when he looked back up to the window, only to see a pair of green eyes staring back. The pink haired kunoichi mouth the words "I'm sorry" before walking away. "I'll get Sakura."

He ran to the front door, ripping it open, as he heard Naruto yell "Don't step out the door, Sasuke!" He stopped mid step, setting his foot back in the threshold. He had forgotten entirely about the house arrest, or the fact that they had the house sealed. If his chakra stepped outside that house, he'd be in a word of trouble. Not to mention the trouble Naruto would be in. Instead, he chose to yell at Sakura.

"Sakura! Oi, Sakura!" Sasuke's voice echoed down the street, making Sakura stop and turn around.

"Sasuke, I am so sorry!" She yelled back, her hands coming together in front of her nervously. "I didn't mean to…they were all just standing there…I didn't see it all…"

Sasuke snickered, but waved her back. "Come on back, Sakura. We're not mad."

They were all sitting in the dining room, the three teammates (ex- and current) not really knowing how to look at each other. Hearing the two males of the team confess their love toward each other was okay, in Sakura's mind. Seeing them express their love in front of her though a window into the kitchen was different. Not liking the new awkwardness that was brimming in the room, Naruto decided to break it.

"So, um…what did you come here to tell us, Sakura-chan?" The two sets of eyes snapped to him, as if he scared the hell out of them with his words.

It took her a moment to remember, but once she did she sat up straight and finished her duty. "Ayame went to find her brother yesterday evening. She, um…she got him back."

Sasuke's eyebrow rose while Naruto's eyes doubled in size and his mouth dropped open. "Didn't Kabuto have him?"

"Yeah, which is why it's a miracle she's alive."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura took a deep breath before answering. "She, um…she killed Kabuto in the process."

"She…killed…Kabuto?" Naruto asked, slowly. He was in pure disbelief, there was no way. "Was he weakened or something?"

Sakura shrugged. "We don't know. She must have really been angry, or something, because she really did a number on him. He was…mutilated."

"Mutilated? What did she do?" Sasuke's eyebrow rose higher, nearly getting lost in his hairline. Ayame wasn't the type to do things like that, although she did show a different side of herself during the battle in Suna. Anger seemed to trigger a power deep within her Ayamagan. It could have been what happened at that moment.

"We don't really know. She hasn't woke up yet to give us a play-by-play."

"That's crazy…" Naruto trailed off, looking out the window.

Sakura scanned the dining room-slash-kitchen, having been curious about Sasuke's home. She was determined to take everything into her memory, and she was doing a good job. Until, that is, her eyes fell on a pair of dark blue boxers with hearts all over. She whipped her eyes back to the table so fast they nearly flew out of her head. Sasuke didn't miss the motion, and tried to find what she saw. When his eyes fell on Naruto's heart-print boxers, he gave a small chuckle.

"Naruto," Sasuke gained the younger teens attention and pointed a finger to where they were hanging off of a cabinet knob. His face turned red as he scurried over to retrieve them, throwing them into a random bottom cabinet.

"Sorry." He said upon turning around, scratching the back of his head very embarrassed. The blush was still very evident on his cheeks.

Sakura took a deep breath, but smiled all the same. "It's alright, I'm just getting used to this. It's not everyday you find out your two best friends are…um…"

"Gay?" Sasuke offered.

"Together?" Naruto shrugged.

Both boys looked at each other, a smirk playing on their faces.

"Truth be told, Sakura, we don't know what we are yet." Catching the look on Naruto's face, he added, "Not yet, at least. We need to…talk about it."

"I dunno." She smirked. "You two looked like you weren't that into talking a few moments ago." As both boys blushed, she couldn't fight her fan girl side any longer and sat forward slightly. "So…who is normally on top?"

"Nani?!"

----

"Tests?" Ayame asked, sitting up right in her hospital bed. "What tests? He's alive, that's all that matters."

"No." Tsunade said, a scowl on her face. She knew the girl would put up a fight, but it was the right thing to do. "Kabuto was a medical ninja with a penchant for experimentation. For all we know he experimented on your brother. We have to check him out…_thoroughly_."

Although the girl's head dropped, she did manage to nod her head slightly. If Kabuto had done anything, even remotely, to her brother, she would want to know about it. The last thing she could handle was her brother being evil. Ayame couldn't fathom she had it in her to take down her own brother, and couldn't imagine having to ask anyone else to do it for her. She sighed before raising her head, trying to find her inner-ninja courage.

"What kind of tests, Lady Hokage?" Ayame's voice as small as she spoke; her hands fisted in the white sheet covering the bed.

"Nothing drastic, I promise." The blonde woman patted Ayame's hands, stopping their attention to the sheet. "You can see him now, if you'd like."

"I'd like that." She stood up and followed the current Hokage, her steps not nearly as exuberant as Tsunade's.

When they were halfway down the hall, she quickened to catch up to Tsunade's larger strides. "Is he awake?"

"Yes, Jakken woke up a little while before you did. From our initial exam, he seems to be well fed and taken care of. It doesn't surprise me, though. If Kabuto wanted him for a body transfer as you said, then he'd want the body in perfect condition."

"Oh, well that's good…I guess."

Tsunade gave a half-hearted smile as she stopped in front of a room and opened the door. She took a step in and her commanding voice filled the room. "Jakken, you have a visitor."

"Mai-Mai?" The brown haired boy asked, sitting up straight in his bed. When Ayame stepped into the room, Jakken bounced off his bed and caught the girl in a bone-crushing hug.

"Jakken, oh my God I'm so glad you're okay!" Ayame exclaimed, hugging him back.

----

Sakura was walking briskly down the main street of Konoha, quickly realizing that when you're trying to find someone it usually means you can't. She silently decided that whoever thought up that rule needed to be punched in the face…hard.

As she rounded a corner, she nearly ran face-first into an opening shop door. Letting loose a stream of obscenities, the person who opened the door stopped and looked at her. Instantly upon seeing the red hair and bright green eyes, Sakura stopped swearing.

"Ayame, it's you!"

Ayame's eyebrow rose slightly. "Yeah, you done swearing at me, Sakura?"

"I'm sorry, really I am. I'm having a really bad day." Taking notice of what shop Ayame had just exited, Sakura formed a very naughty smirk. "The camera store? Did you get some film developed?"

Ayame formed her very own naughty smirk and opened the envelope, showing Sakura the pictures of two very sleepy shinobi all curled up together in a bed. "I made doubles. If the other girls want one, they'll have to get their own developed from the negatives." She handed over one of the copies to Sakura, who instantly began to have a 'fan girl squee' moment.

Sakura's smile was the biggest Ayame had ever seen as the pink-haired kunoichi ogled the pictures in her hand. "I think I love you, Ayame."

Ayame giggled in response. "It's been forever since that happened, and I've been meaning to develop them. But with Jakken's tests and everything else, I've been really scattered lately."

Sakura looked up from her pictures at the mention of the girl's brother. "How is Jakken doing, anyway? It's been a good three weeks since the tests started."

"Well, at first his chakra was really unstable. It was even leaking. But Lady Tsunade made an elixir and it stabilized it. While this was all going on, Jakken would lose pieces of his memory. But we think we've got it settled now." She took a deep breath and brushed a piece of hair from her face. "She's letting him out soon, though. Right in time for the festival I hear you're all having."

"Festival?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrow. "Oh, is it October already?"

"Yeah, it's been October for three whole days now. Where have you been?"

"I told you, it's been a very bad week." Then, as if suddenly remembering why she was on this street in the first place, Sakura jumped. "Oh, oh! Have you seen Naruto?"

"Naruto? Isn't he with Sasuke? Isn't he _always_ with Sasuke?"

"No, actually. Sasuke told him to get out for a while. It's really no good for Naruto to be all cooped up in a house, ya know. He'll start to break stuff." Sakura smirked. "And everything in that house is Sasuke's stuff."

"Except for all the clothes I heard he's been leaving there." Ayame sighed and began glancing around the village. "Maybe he's training. He does that a lot, right?"

"I looked. Why is it always me who has to find someone?" After getting a confused look from Ayame, Sakura just sighed and smiled. "Well, you go back to your brother and I'll keep searching. Maybe the old man at Ichiraku's has seen him."

----

Tsunade could hear him coming down the hall, his loud footsteps and even louder voice causing a familiar pain to begin in her forehead. Naruto was back…as was her migraine. When she heard – and felt – her door slam open, she braced herself for the loud greeting she was positive she would be getting.

"Grandma Tsunaaaadddddeeee!" Naruto's voice shrieked into the Hokage's office. The result was a very heavy book being thrown at his very sensitive head.

"What do you want, pain in the ass?" She growled, rubbing her temples. "Haven't I told you to be _quiet_?"

"Probably, but I wasn't listening." He said, picking up the book and taking a seat on the edge of her desk. "I'm restless, got a mission for me?"

For a second, Tsunade stared at him as if the blonde had grown a second head. Once seeing that he was serious, she raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah Granny…why?" He cocked his head to the side letting his confused expression take over his facial features.

"Do you know what day it is, Naruto? What month?"

Naruto gaped for a few seconds, his face resembling a fish as he struggled to remember something so insignificant. The time he'd spent with Sasuke had made the days fly by, it was really nice. He tried to decipher what day could be making her act like that, act as if Naruto wasn't supposed to be asking. It was apparently something he should have remembered, but nothing was important yet, was it? The only day that ever gets him that look is his…his…his _birthday_.

"Oh…already?" Naruto asked, dropping his head slightly.

"Yeah, already." She sighed, brushing a blonde piggy-tail from her shoulder. "It's up to you this year, Naruto. You have a different place to hide out, you know. Sasuke will more than willingly lend you his house for the duration of the festival."

"You can't just give me a mission that will take me far away from this village?" He asked, his eyes brimming with hope.

"There really aren't any missions during the festival. Just one's that need genin help setting up for it."

"Oh."

"Naruto, things could be different. I mean, you're older and the generation that remembers that day is hardly any cause for concern. Besides, as much good as you've done for this village…" She was cut off by Naruto standing up.

"I'll let you know what I decide to do."

As he walked back out the door, Tsunade sighed. She hated seeing this sad expression on his face. If she had the power to make everyone forget about that damn fox demon, she would. Just for Naruto's sake and sanity.

----

Raizou was sitting on the edge of a huge rock in the park, his hands fumbling with the bag in his hand. A nameless rogue ninja was shifting his stance in front of the councilman, peering over his own shoulder. As the older councilman opened the bag and saw the money, a smile spread across his wrinkled features.

"That's exactly what I wanted." He looked up at the ninja and pulled out a few Ryo. "I owe you, right?"

"This isn't enough, Raizou!" The ninja snarled at the small amount of money in his hand. "I stole from the Konoha Treasury, I deserve a bigger cut than this."

"Take what you get, ninja!" Raizou growled, standing up. "Go after me at all, and there will be hell to pay."

The rogue ninja formed a few hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Raizou, with a satisfied look on his face, began to walk away with the money in his hand. Behind a large tree, Kakashi was hiding with his body pressed tight against the rough bark. Slightly smirking under his mask, he put everything he'd seen to memory. The man who gave the ridiculous terms to Sasuke's house arrest, the man who put so much strain on Naruto and Sasuke's relationship, had just hired a ninja to steal him money from the Treasury. Kakashi teleported himself in front of the Hokage tower and climbed the huge stairs. Tsunade would be very interested in this information.

* * *

Yeah, you all waited forever for this one, didn't you? Sorry about that...just couldn't find my muse for this story. And, yes...threw in a slight twist at the end, hope you enjoy where you may think that is taking us. And, of course, hope you enjoy the SasuNaru peep show the horny ANBU guards seemed to enjoy taking part in... 


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **Hey...a chapter you didn't have to wait forever for. Will miracles never cease? I hope you enjoy this one. Not much action, per-say...but it's an important build up to the final chapter, which I hope will be the next one. Fifteen chapters is my limit to this story...I made that decision. _sets proverbial foot down_ There, that's settled.

* * *

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 14:  
Of Freedom and Hiding**

Tsunade was rubbing her temples roughly, listening to the white-haired jounin sitting on the edge of her desk. That morning had been a disaster, with Shizune being sick and Tsunade having to take care of everything on her own. It was at that moment the blonde woman realized how much Shizune actually did for her.

Kakashi watched the Hokage carefully, afraid her proneness to sudden outburst would cause her to throw him out a window. What he was telling her wasn't something anyone in a leader position would even want to consider. Not in the slightest. He watched the woman lean forward on her elbows and propped her chin in one hand. Tapping her fingers against her cheek she let out a deep sigh.

"So, what you're telling me is that Raizou hired a rogue ninja to _steal_ money from the _Konoha_ treasury?" She said at last, raising her eyes to meet Kakashi's.

"Yes, Hokaga-sama." Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Troublesome councilman, isn't he?"

She sighed again before sitting back in her chair. "Yes, yes he is." Pouring herself a cup of sake, Tsunade let a smirk play on her face. "You know, Kakashi, this could play in our favor."

At this the white-haired ninja's ears perked up. He uncrossed his arms and leaned ever-so-slightly toward her. "How, Hokaga-sama?"

Tsunade just chuckled. It was the first thing in a long time that sent a shiver down Kakashi's spine.

----

With the wind blowing through her hair, Sakura sat on a tree stump watching two of her friends training. Beside her was a brown haired boy who was fresh from the hospital and still a little wary of everything around him; especially the pink-haired kunoichi sitting next to him. Taking notice of his uneasiness, Sakura turned to him.

"So…Ayame told me you were a ninja too. What was your specialty?"

Jakken turned to look at her, his face holding a little bit of confusion. "I…uh…was pretty good at chakra control…and, um…senbon throwing…"

"Wow, senbon? We have a ninja here – Genma – he's pretty good at them, too." Sakura smiled, trying to put the young boy at ease.

"Naruto, you need to concentrate!" Ayame said, catching Sakura and Jakken's attention for a second.

"I am, Ayame. This is harder than just making wind swirls on my fingertips, you know!" Naruto pouted, making Ayame smirk.

"Here, try this…"

"What is Mai-Mai trying to teach him?" Jakken asked, probably the first thing he voluntarily said all day.

"Um…she's trying to teach him to wind flash, but there's something before it and that's what he's on now."

"Wind flash? Sis is really going to show him that?" He asked, his eyebrow raised.

Sakura looked at him, a quizzical expression on her face. "Why, is something wrong?"

Jakken quickly looked at the ground, realizing he'd been talking openly to a stranger. "N-no…n-nothing."

"Jakken, you don't have to be scared of us. We're here to help you. We're friends." Sakura tried again, smiling. It seemed to put the young boy at ease, if only slightly.

Sitting up a little straighter, Jakken took a deep breath. "The wind flash is our family's jutsu. Grandpa always told us we weren't allowed to show 'outsiders' how to do it because that's giving away the family secret."

"Oh." Sakura said, watching Ayame and Naruto carefully. "Wonder why she chose Naruto?"

"Is he a Jinchuuriki?" Jakken asked, taking Sakura off-guard.

"Why?" Sakura said, almost defensively. She regretted it immediately when she saw the reserved expression on the boys face.

"Just something that man – Kabuto – said." Jakken was looking at the ground again, his hands doing a motion similar to Hinata's when she's near Naruto.

"What did he say?"

The boy was silent for a minute before he finally spoke, being careful to not look the kunoichi in the eye. "He said he was a monster. Something about nine tails. I just assumed that's what Kabuto meant."

"Oh."

"Mom told Sis once that if she ever meant a true hero, showing him the family secret wouldn't be a bad thing. That she'd be helping if she did that. That's why she chose him…he must be a true hero."

Sakura was speechless. Hell, she could barely breathe. After a moment, and with the initial shock passing, she smiled and leaned back on the stump. "I think your specialty is your words, Jakken. You have a real knack for reading people and what they're thinking. You'll make a great shinobi."

Jakken smiled and Ayame noticed. She stopped and stared at her brother, smiling at Sakura, and had to smile herself. It was nice to see her brother so relaxed after everything he'd gone though.

"Ayame, I'm doing it…I think!" Naruto yelled, drawing her attention back to him. When she saw Naruto moving the air around him, it wasn't such a shock. It was when she realized he was hovering almost six inches off the ground that her mouth dropped open.

"Yeah, Naruto. You're doing it. Just not what I taught you." At that, Naruto gave her a confused look. "Look down, baka."

In almost slow motion, Naruto looked down and saw himself hovering. For a second it didn't register in his head that he was almost six inches above the soft grass. Once it did, however, the teen came crashing down to the ground, landing flat on his back.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, rushing to his side. "What happened?"

"I…I was…floating…" Naruto said, almost dazed. "Right?"

"Um…floating isn't the right word. You were hovering." Ayame smirked. Jakken stood beside her and gave Naruto a weak smile. "You did amazing, Naruto. Take a break and get some ramen."

----

Sasuke was exhausted. He'd been rearranging furniture that entire day, ever since Naruto commented on him having a large foyer that he never used. Deciding it was time to make use of it (since he sure as hell wasn't using his living room any time soon) he moved furniture around until he had a small couch and a television in his extra-large foyer. Glancing around his make-shift living room, he smiled to himself.

Throwing himself on the small couch, he nestled in and prepared for a mid-day nap, something he'd begrudged himself for so long. He had just fell into a deep sleep when an annoying blonde landed on top of him. He left out a groan and nearly kunai'd the teen who landed on top of him, had he had a kunai.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Guess what I did today!" Naruto exclaimed, straddling the stoic teen and waving his arms around in emphasis.

"Learned to talk above a kindergarten level?" Sasuke smirked, trying to sit up slightly.

Naruto cocked his head to the side before shooting Sasuke a glare and pouting. "Fine, I won't tell you."

Sighing, Sasuke sat up and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist. "I'm sorry, Naruto. What did you do today?" He pressed a kiss against the blonde whiskered cheek before snuggling against his chest.

Naruto buried his face in Sasuke's hair, inhaling the scent, before speaking again.

"First I learned to move the air again, because I'd forgotten since the last time Ayame taught me. Then, after I mastered it again, I began making it do stuff. Like hitting logs and things. And then suddenly, without me trying, I hovered, like, six inches or something!" Naruto rapidly explained, waving his hands all around as he spoke.

At the word 'hover', Sasuke just stared at him. "You…you, uh…hovered?"

"Yeah! Wanna see?" Naruto asked, climbing off of Sasuke and standing in front of the couch.

Pooling his chakra, Naruto began focusing like he did before. Almost instantly he felt himself being lifted and heard a slight gasp from Sasuke.

"You…you are…hovering…" Sasuke breathed out, watching his boyfriend hover a good foot off the ground.

Naruto looked down, seeing that he was further up this time, and came crashing down again. He sat up, rubbing his tailbone and cursing. "Damn it! Why is it when I look down I fall? I'm still concentrating when I look down!"

Shaking the shock from his mind, Sasuke stood up and helped Naruto stand up. "It's because of your chakra control. Although it's better than it was when we were thirteen, it's still got a way to go."

"How do I learn to control it better?" The blonde asked, wrapping his arms around Sasuke and burying his face in the crook of Sasuke's neck.

"I can show you, dobe." Sasuke whispered, placing a kiss on Naruto's neck.

"You'll do that? For me, 'suke?" Naruto asked, pulling back and looking into Sasuke's onyx eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Just try not to break anything, okay?" Sasuke smirked, inferring that he still couldn't leave the house.

----

Raizou stood in front of the Hokage's desk, his face red with anger.

"You are accusing me of _what_ exactly, Tsunade?" He didn't use the honorific, he didn't feel it necessary. After all, the Hokage had just accused him of stealing. Honorifics are not meant for situations like that.

Tsunade resisted the urge to rub her temples, just barely. "I'm not _accusing_ you of anything. I already _know_ you did it. Just confess so we can get this over with."

"I will do no such thing!" He spat, his face turning redder, if possible. "Who would say such slanderous things?"

"That would be me." Kakashi said from his position of leaning against the wall behind Tsunade's chair. He bent his arm up at the elbow and held twitched his hand to the side at the wrist, sort of an informal greeting he'd give his students.

"How dare you!" Raizou spat again, slamming his fist on Tsunade's overly-abused desk. "What do you have to support your claim?"

"He saw you, Raizou. With is own tw- well…with his eye." Tsunade said, a slight smirk on her face. Kakashi's visible eye crinkled in a smile.

The elder councilman spluttered for a few seconds, a desperate attempt to come up with a good story. Unfortunately, no story came to mind. Instead, he decided to wing it.

"There was no money in the bag, Kakashi. You saw wrong!"

"You pulled some out and handed it to the ninja. He's in custody, by the way. He'll be telling us everything as soon as Ibiki gets started." Kakashi said curtly.

Raizou's eyes grew wide for a second before dropping his head in defeat. "What do you want front me, Tsunade?"

"Give back the money and exile yourself, Raizou. Every decision you have made as councilman will be looked at and decided accordingly. Starting with the Uchiha trial."

Raizou's head snapped up, his eyes locked on Tsunade. "You've been waiting for an opportunity like this, haven't you?"

"You have no idea." She smirked, motioning to the ANBU guard on the other side of her. "Take this man to his home and collect the money he owes Konoha. If he gives you any trouble, any at all, force him to cooperate by _any means necessary_."

As the ANBU drug the man out the door, Kakashi let a slight chuckle out of his throat. "You know, Hokaga-sama…that might have been a little too much. Telling ANBU to force him by any means necessary…no telling what they'd do."

She swiveling her chair around and looked the man in the eye. "Am I supposed to care?"

----

For the second time since Sasuke's return, Naruto stood at Sasuke's door with few clothes on. This time, however, it was from training and nothing else.

The female ANBU who knocked was stuttering as she saw him before catching her composure. "Hokage-sama would like your attendance in her office. You are to bring the Uchiha with you."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Really? She wants me to bring Sasuke…by my self? What about the terms of his house arrest?"

Another ANBU landed next to the first one. "That won't be a problem anymore. Tsunade herself assured us of this."

Sasuke walked up behind Naruto, carrying the boy's discarded shirt and jacket in his hand. "What's going on?"

"Tsunade wants to see both of us in her office. I'm supposed to take you there by myself."

Sasuke arched a delicate eyebrow before shrugging. "I guess we go, right?"

It was the first time the stoic teen stepped out of that house in a month, and he instantly took a deep breath of fresh air. Naruto was watching him and smiled. "Having fun, 'suke?"

"I forgot how much I missed fresh air." He smiled, turning to face Naruto. The wind whipped through their hair as they stepped closer.

It was their first affectionate display in public, and neither of them seemed to mind. Their lips meant and they stood at the gate to the Uchiha District for a while. They weren't really in a big hurry, Tsunade could wait.

Ayame, Jakken, and Sakura were walking toward the Uchiha District, having been sent by Tsunade to make sure the ANBU delivered the message right. When they reached the gate, Jakken gave a gasp and hid his head behind Ayame. Trying to find what frightened her brother, she began to giggle and pointed Sakura in the right direction.

"Well, at least their not having sex." Sakura smirked, watching the two teenagers holding on to each other tightly, still kissing.

Ayame, having already heard about Sakura's little voyeur experience, just giggled again. She turned around to Jakken, who was still hiding his head, and ruffled his hair. "They're in love, Jakken. It's okay for them to do that."

"But they're both _boys_!"

"Yes, but it's still okay." She smiled.

Sakura cleared her throat, loudly, making both boys jump slightly. "Busy, are we? I think you just scarred poor Jakken for life."

"Jakken?" Sasuke asked, arching his eyebrow and darting his eyes to find the young boy. He was the only one so far _not _to see Ayame's brother in person.

Jakken poked his head out from behind Ayame, a light blush covering his cheeks. Naruto gave the young boy a wave and smiled. Sasuke smirked and pulled himself from Naruto.

"So, um…we just came to make sure you two got the message. Apparently you did." Sakura said, still smirking.

"We didn't take that long, did we?" Naruto asked.

Both girls just giggled, Jakken's face turned even more red, and Sasuke smacked him up side the head. He may have meant it innocently, but nothing Naruto says ever comes out just right.

"Baka." Sasuke said, crossing his arms over his chest.

----

Iruka was almost used to hearing various villagers mention his favorite student's name. Naruto had become quite popular over the years, even with the girls if he cared to notice. But when this crop of fan girls, who were gathered together in a popular teenage-geared tea shop, were giggling at the mention of Naruto's name he stopped to listen.

"I'm not kidding you! They were actually _kissing_!" One exclaimed, quickly going through her cell phone. "That hot blonde kid with the whisker marks – what's his name? Naruto Uzumaki? – and Sasuke Uchiha!"

"No, no. Sasuke Uchiha is not gay. He can't be!" Another said, shaking her head violently. "He's way too sexy for that!"

"What are you talking about?" A third said, grabbing the second by the shoulders. "It's always the sexy ones that are gay!"

"Here!" The first one said, thrusting a phone into the second girl's hand. "I have a video. They were making out for almost fifteen minutes straight!"

The girls were huddled around the phone's screen, watching the video silently. When it ended, the giggling ensued.

"No way!" The second one exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Send it to me! Send it to me! I am sending that to every one I've ever meant in my entire life!"

Iruka smiled and continued walking. Apparently his little talk with Naruto did some good. As long as that hyperactive boy was happy, Iruka was happy. No matter who that boy was with.

Little did he know, however, that those fan girls weren't the only one's with the knowledge of his former student's love life. But he soon found out when, with every corner he turned, there was another crop of fan girls doing the exact same thing.

----

With another sip of sake, Tsunade took the cell phone from Izumo and watched as the chuunin pressed play. The video of Sasuke being pushed up against the Uchiha District gate played. As Naruto pressed himself against the other teen, wrapping his arms around the boy, he pressed his lips against Sasuke's. The dark-haired teen wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and tangled them in his blonde hair. The scene of them making out played for two more minute before the video ended. Tsunade handed the phone back and took another sip of sake.

"So, that brat finally made himself famous, huh?" She said while smirking.

"If that's what a ninja really wants to be famous for." Kotetsu said.

"That kid?" Izumo snorted. "This will blow over in a few days when he does something equally stupid."

Tsunade laughed at that, her head tossed back. When her laughter finally died down slightly, she wiped a tear from her eye and composed herself. "You are right, Izumo. You are definitely right."

The Hokage's door opened, revealing Sasuke and Naruto standing on the other side. It was a miracle the Hokage didn't burst out laughing when she saw them, it took all of her self control.

"You, uh, wanted to see us Granny?" Naruto asked, stepping into the room.

"Yeah. Sasuke, you are free."

Both boys stood perfectly still, stunned beyond all words and bodily actions.

Finally Sasuke let out a breath he didn't realize he had held. "I'm…free…?"

A slight 'poof' from the window made everyone look in that direction, only to see Kakashi perched on the window ledge. "Yo!"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the man. "What are you doing here?"

"I haven't seen my ex-students in a while. I missed you guys. Especially you, Sasuke." His eye crinkled in a smile.

Ignoring him, Sasuke turned back to Tsunade. "I'm free? What do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said, brat. You are free, free to live wherever and go wherever. Although no missions until I see fit. And when you do start back, it will be D- or C-rank until I know I can trust your ass, you here me?" Tsunade said, slamming her palm on her desk. Sasuke jumped slightly and nodded, but still looked confused.

"When you say free," Naruto started, scratching his chin. "Does that mean he can leave the house without me…or anyone…watching him? And he can move, if he wants to?"

"Yes!" Tsunade said, exasperated.

"Raizou has been tried to theft." Izumo interrupted. Tsunade whipped her head around to glare at the chuunin, but nodded instead.

"Yeah, forgot to mention that, didn't I?" She said, smirking. "Ah, hell…I'm tired."

"Theft!" Naruto exclaimed. "That bastard was stealing?"

"Stealing money from the Konoha treasury." Kakashi answered. "I caught him and he's been exiled for his treachery. As a result, Hokaga-sama can over-turn any decision he's made…including Sasuke's trial."

Sasuke nodded, the happiness showing in his eyes for anyone trained to read them. Naruto threw a victory sign in the air and smiled wide. "Yeah, 'suke! You're free!" The blonde jumped on Sasuke, knocking them both to the ground. Izumo and Kotetsu just groaned and turned their heads.

"Oi, you two…no making out in here! We have enough of that circulating." Tsunade growled.

Both boys froze and stared at her.

"Nani?!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up. "What do you mean, Granny?"

"Um…nothing. Go make the most of your free time." She said, waving them out.

"Um…Granny…does that mean that the thing with me is gone, too?" He asked, referring to his frozen ninja status.

"Yup, kid. You are free to become anything you want."

----

It took the budding couple five hours to move all of Naruto's stuff – and what little Sasuke had – into their new apartment. No more rent-jacking or going hungry or cold nights for Naruto. He had a beautiful new apartment that overlooked the Hokage Mountain, with two bedrooms and a bathroom that was double the size of his old one. And, to top it all off, he had a gorgeous raven-haired shinobi lying nearly naked on the couch they took from Sasuke's childhood home.

Life was good.

The overly sexy Uchiha (to Naruto, at least) propped himself up on the couch and watched the blonde rummaging through the kitchen.

"Take a break, Whiskers. We've been putting away things for hours." Sasuke said, a smirk playing on his face.

Naruto just stared at him, his arms frozen half-way to putting a bright orange toaster on the top shelf of a cabinet. "Did…Did you just call me…_Whiskers_?"

"Well, you have several nicknames for me. I don't have many for you."

"Dobe, usuratonkatchi, baka…the list goes on and on." Naruto glared. "And now you add _whiskers_ of all things?"

"I think it's sexy. I like your whisker marks, Naruto." Sasuke sat up, motioning the blonde to come toward him.

Having been hated by the villagers for most of his life, Naruto did turn out to be slightly self-conscious about his appearance. He used to think it was his blonde hair and blue eyes that turned people away, until he found out about the Fourth Hokage's hair and eye color. Then those features weren't so bad. But his whisker marks, they were something different. No matter what, he could not get rid of them. If anything, they became more prominent over the years. More of a hindrance.

But, if Sasuke liked them…then maybe they weren't so bad.

He was subconsciously running a hand over them as Sasuke eyed him curiously. "Naruto?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked. Then realizing he was touching his face, he dropped his hands to his sides.

Sasuke stood up and sauntered toward Naruto, pressing him against the cold refrigerator door.

"They are sexy." Sasuke whispered into Naruto's ear, running his tongue along the sensitive skin. "You are sexy."

As Naruto's breathing increased, he let his head fall back. By the second three-word sentence, Naruto fisted his hands in Sasuke's hair and breathed out, "God, I love you Sasuke!"

Smirking devilishly, Sasuke led Naruto toward their new bedroom, which had yet to be christened. But, after that night was through, that bed would be well used.

----

The day was October tenth, the infamous day in Konoha. During the morning and most of the afternoon the village was silent and in mourning. Both for their fallen comrades and the fall of the greatest Hokage Konoha had yet to know. But during the evening and night the village came alive with games and food and music, celebrating the achievement of removing the demon from power and stopping it from destroying the village further than it already had.

It was also the day Naruto hid himself away. Deep down he knew what he was. A horrible reminder of the suffering laid down on Konoha. The day the greatest Hokage, the strongest leader, was taken by a horrible curse seal. Taken by the very demon he sought to protect them from. Naruto knew he was nothing but the demon's carrier, the vessel that held a horrible demon, and the boy who struck a million horrible memories in the minds of the villagers.

But right now it was the day that perfect moments with Sasuke made him forget about…until it was way too late.

When Sasuke emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed, that afternoon Naruto secretly knew what he was wanting. He'd hoped that this new improved good Sasuke was still the type to not like festivals. Strangely enough, he was wrong. Sasuke sauntered from his bedroom, wearing clothes that fit him perfectly, and leaned against the frame around the small hallway. The onyx eyes connected with bright blue ones before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Are you ready to go, Naruto?"

The horrible reminder to the village looked away and dropped his head. "I'm not going, Sasuke. I can't go to _this_ festival."

The older teen arched his eyebrow momentarily before pushing himself off the door frame. "What are you talking about? What is _this_ festival any different?" Before Naruto could think of a reply, the answer hit him full in the face. The whisker marks he loved so much showed him the reason. "Oh."

"Yeah…oh…" He still wasn't looking Sasuke in the eye, his gaze still directed at the floor on his right side. "But, if you want to go…"

He didn't get a chance to finish before Sasuke interrupted him. "No. I want to go with you." The child-like stubbornness of the reply shocked Naruto somewhat.

"What?"

"You heard me." Sasuke said sternly. "What do you do every year at this time, Naruto?"

The blonde began kicking at invisible dirt on the hardwood floor. "I…I, uh…I kind of hide."

"You hide?" Sasuke asked, his eyebrow arching again. "The great Naruto Uzumaki hides?" The raven-haired teen scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest. "How childish."

Naruto was stunned at Sasuke's words and chose that time to stare into the older teens face. He didn't know what he _expected_ to see, but the blank face wasn't what he _wanted_ to see. Fighting back the tears he knew were hiding in him somewhere, Naruto formed his normal glare and fixed it on his boyfriend.

"What is that supposed to mean, Sasuke?"

"You want to be Hokage, don't you?" Sasuke said, his smugness dripping off his words. "How do you expect to _lead_ this village when you won't even go face them?"

Those words were like a slap in the face to Naruto, who let his mouth drop open and nearly hit the floor. Attempting to regain his composure, if he had any to start with, he crossed his arms defensively. "It's not the same thing, Sasuke!"

"Really, Naruto? Then what is it?" Sasuke asked, putting his hands on his hips. "You're hiding like a scared child."

"I'm not hiding like a scared child! Not anymore!" This caught Sasuke's attention, but he didn't have time to respond before Naruto continued. "I'm…I'm nothing but a horrible memory to them!"

"That was so long ago, Naruto. This generation doesn't think like that. To this generation you're just annoying."

"What?" Naruto asked, being taken back. "But…but no one ever talked to me…I was hated, Sasuke. If it wasn't because of the demon…"

"This generation didn't know about the demon, Naruto. We just knew that the adults treated you different and we went by that. But now that we think for ourselves, none of us fear you or hate you." He continued. "Like I said, you're just annoying."

Naruto spluttered for a few moments before finally just dropping his head and arms. He felt defeated and maybe slightly betrayed, but most of all he just felt confused. For years he'd believed the villagers didn't want him around on this day, not that they'd showed any other side of their feelings. Except maybe a select few who finally showed them kindness.

He tried to say something, anything, but he couldn't find the words. He just stuttered and spluttered something incoherent and rubbed the back of his head.

Seeing the sadness and confusion in Naruto's eyes, Sasuke began to realize how much he'd ignored the blonde during this time before. Sasuke usually spent the festival hiding in his house from the annoying flock of fan girls. Of course, he usually spent _every_ festival like that. But never once did it cross his mind that Naruto hid away in his tiny apartment because he was afraid, afraid of what the villagers would do to him. It wasn't really Sasuke's fault, he never even knew Naruto had a reason to hide. Hell, he didn't know about the demon, actually see and feel it, until he was fifteen. Common sense should have told him there was a reason. The reason behind why the villagers seemed to shun him. It actually made Sasuke hate himself for never seeing it before, never seeing the hurt that was now so apparent in the blonde's cerulean eyes.

"Naruto," he began, although he really didn't know what to say. He just knew he couldn't see that hurt in Naruto's eyes ever again. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. I just though you'd want to…forget I brought it up."

Instantly, upon hearing Sasuke's words, relief flickered through his eyes. He flung himself at Sasuke and clung to him tightly. "I…I'm sorry, Sasuke. I just don't think I can…"

"Hey, Whiskers, it's fine. I don't like festivals anyway." Sasuke pressed a kiss to Naruto's temple and another one to his forehead.

"Are you sure, 'suke?" Naruto asked, his voice muffled from his face being buried in Sasuke's shirt. "I…I can…I can try. I can transform myself into…"

"No, Naruto. It's fine. We'll stay here, just me and you."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it! (I think I say that at the end of _every_ story and one-shot I write. lol. But, at least it's true. 


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Last chapter...whew! I wanna say it was a blast, but I think that my next one - _if there is a next one_ - will be much more involved and better written. I know this one got rough at times, but it was my first story that went over one chapter. Thank you for reading it, you all are awesome!

* * *

**Revenge and Afterward**

**Chapter 15:  
Compromise Isn't So Bad, After all...**

The streets were crowded with people. The festival was proving to bring every one of the villagers into the attractions, except Sasuke and Naruto. The two were sitting on the couch, cuddled into each other, flipping through the channels on the television. Sasuke, who was holding the remote, wasn't settling on a channel for more than seven-point-three seconds – Naruto was keeping track.

Naruto stood up and stretched before walking to the kitchen. Mid-way through drinking milk from the carton, something he was sure Sasuke had yelled at him for dozens of times, he saw a renegade balloon travel past their window. If he listened close enough, he could hear the faint cry from the child who previously owned said balloon. His cerulean eyes settled on his boyfriend, who was slouched down in the couch lazily channel flipping. The boredom was slowly sinking into his face and his onyx eyes kept darting to the window every once in a while.

The blonde sighed, knowing he was being mean to his lover. He was keeping the older teen hostage in the apartment just because he was too scared to face the villagers. He was keeping the boy kept inside, almost as if the stoic teen was still under house arrest. It wasn't right to deny the teen a festival, especially since Naruto was pretty sure Sasuke didn't usually go to them. It wasn't right to deny the teen something innocent he wanted.

Cerulean eyes flickered to the clock on the wall. Five-thirty in the evening. The festival itself had been going on for a half an hour. Sasuke's eyes darted from the window to the television again. Sitting in this house was killing him, and Naruto knew it.

He put the milk back in the fridge and leaned against the cold counter. Running his hands through his hair, he leaned his head back against the cabinet. What if Sasuke and Tsunade were right? What if they didn't think of him as only the Kyuubi-container? What if he was more to them than just a bad memory?

If that was it, then would they mind if he went to the festival? Would they mind if he celebrated in the downfall of the demon? Even if the demon was inside of him?

With all the questions floating through his head, he had trouble sorting through them. Sparing another look at Sasuke, however, helped him make up his mind. Instead of returning to the couch for another boring session of channel flipping, he detoured to the bedroom. After deciding on clothes that _weren't_ orange (or, at least, not _entirely_ orange), he headed back to the living room. He stood in the way of Sasuke's view of the television and scratched the back of his head.

"You, uh, ready to go, 'suke?"

Sasuke straightened himself slightly, looking his boyfriend up and down. Raising an eyebrow, he dropped the remote on the couch. A simple change of clothes could drastically change Naruto's overall appearance, and it still shocked Sasuke. Of course he thought Naruto looked good in anything he wore, he'd even been able to see past all the orange, but Naruto looked exceptionally good in white. It just seemed to highlight his tanned skin, bright cerulean eyes, and shockingly blonde hair. Light colors just seemed to spark Naruto's natural beauty.

Finally remembering the blonde talked to him while he was standing there, he met the bright blue eyes. "Go where?"

"Uh, to the, uh, festival."

"You – _we_ – decided not to go, Naruto." Sasuke said, his eyebrow still arched.

"Yeah, but…um…I, uh…" Naruto stuttered, fumbling for his words.

Sasuke stretched and sighed. "We're fine in here, Naruto."

Blonde eyebrows furrowed together as he saw Sasuke try to see the television around him. "But you're not fine! You're bored!"

"Well, then let's do something that will make me _not_ bored." Sasuke said, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

Naruto put his hands on his hips and glared. "That's not what I meant, bastard! You obviously want to go or you wouldn't keep staring outside all the time." Then, dropping his arms to the side, he lowered his voice. "I'm keeping you in here and I don't want to. You've been kept inside long enough, 'suke. I want to take you out there."

Sasuke stood up and walked toward the blonde, taking him in his arms. "Naruto, I'm not going to force you, you know. Only go if you truly _want_ to."

"Have you ever been to this festival before, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's waist.

"Once. When I was little. My mom took me."

Naruto pulled back, looking into Sasuke's eyes. "You never talk about her, you know."

"Not really something I want to relive, dobe." Sasuke said, his eyes flickering with emotions. Narrowing his eyes at the blonde, he tried to look though the younger teen. Trying for any hidden fear anywhere in there. Sadly, he saw, his eyes were full of it. "I'm not forcing you to go, Whiskers. You make up your own mind."

Naruto took a deep breath and looked out the window again. It was beginning to get dark, the shops and stands turned their lights on. It made the street shine a rainbow of colors. He looked back at Sasuke with a new determination in his eyes. "I want to go. I wanna give it a shot in hell."

"If anything happens, Naruto, _anything at all_, you transform into someone else. Understand?" Sasuke said, his eyes piercing.

"Yup, got it." Naruto said, nodding.

As they were about to walk through the door, Naruto's panic was increasing. He kept up a brave face and his determined look, but on the inside he was collapsing. Dread filled him to the brim to the point he thought he'd pass out. He looked at Sasuke and tried to calm his nerves.

_I'm okay._ Naruto thought. _Sasuke's here, so I'm safe. He'll protect me._

----

The first person to greet them on the outside was Kiba. With his arm slung over Hinata, they greeted the couple with big smiles. Akamaru was walking with another dog, a female dog, and looked mighty happy. Naruto and Kiba chatted as they all walked down the streets, with Hinata being as silent as usual. When Naruto asked if they were on a date, the poor girl turned the color of a tomato.

Further down the street, they ran into Neji and TenTen who were being followed by a semi-drunk Lee and Sakura. Apparently Lee had mistaken a new fruity mixed drink for a protein-filled energy smoothie and drank it all in one gulp. At this, Sakura rolled her eyes but continued to cling on the boys arm. What surprised everyone most about Lee was his extreme _lack _of green spandex. The boy was dressed in regular civilian clothes and he almost looked…normal. And, also a surprise, was that Sakura was openly on a date with the formally-green-clad ninja.

Huddled in a group in front of a certain barbecue restaurant were Chouji, Ino, Shikamaru, and Shino. The restaurant looked to be packed, making a very pissed off Chouji. Shikamaru was trying his best to calm him down, using every Chuunin level compromising skill he knew. Sadly, it was Shino who had the final push. He pointed at Naruto and the team turned around and raised an eyebrow.

The blonde was glad when Ayame and Jakken came running up to them, at least the tension wasn't all on him anymore. Jakken, being as shy as ever, clung to his sister's arm and looked about as thrilled to be there as a crab would in a seafood restaurant. Naruto felt his pain and tried to talk to the poor boy. When a smile finally settled on the young boy's face, Naruto felt he'd completed a job well done.

The group, having a collective problem of not knowing what to do first, began walking aimlessly through the village. As it always seems to go, when a large group of teenagers are together for long periods of time, during tense situations, or during festivities of any kind fights to tend to break out. This, unfortunately, was no exception.

First it was Sakura and Ino, who began a ruthless torrent of name-calling all over one stupid question on their favorite brand of lip gloss. What started as a verbal argument of 'Ino-Pig!', 'Billboard Brow!', 'Pupil-less Bitch!', 'Flat-chested Ten-Year Old Boy!' soon turned into a fist fight. It took Lee (who quickly sobered up at the display of womanly power) and Shikamaru all their strength to break the girls up. Hell, it took Naruto and Chouji helping the two boys out to get them under control.

Next came the constant arguments Kiba and Naruto seemed to get involved in. No one even knew when this one started, they just knew that those two had this undying need to argue and it gave them all a headache.

Surprisingly enough, no arguments between Sasuke and Naruto broke out, but between Sasuke and Neji was another story. All over Neji asking Naruto how he gained the courage to come out of his house. It was, of course, taken the wrong way by the two lovers. Sasuke immediately thought he was talking about Naruto being the demon carrier and argued accordingly. Instead, however, it was asked in concern of bringing the Uchiha.

"I was simply asking how you could bear to be seen in this village with _that_." Neji said, motioning toward Sasuke.

"What does that mean, Hyuuga?" Sasuke growled out.

"Come on, boys. Can't we have a quiet and friendly night out?" Ino asked.

"Obviously not!" Both boy spat out.

"Guys, come on. It was meant to be a joke, right Neji?" Naruto tried.

"Not really." Neji said coolly. Sasuke bared his teeth and tried to jump at the Hyuuga, only to be held back by Naruto's strong arms.

"You're not fighting him, Sasuke. He's a friend." Naruto said sternly. "We're at a festival, you two. Act civilized!"

The group all just stared in awe at Naruto's maturity at the situation. It made both Sasuke and Neji feel childish at their actions if even Naruto was telling them to grow up.

It was after that that the group decided to split for a while. Sakura became group itinerary planner and gave them all a precise time to meet up for the main event.

"The fireworks start at eleven o'clock sharp, and Hokage-sama agreed to let us use her roof as a place to watch the display. We can meet up at ten-fifty to get ourselves situated and prepared. We should meet at the fountain, just so we can make sure we have everything we need…"

"Okay, Mother Superior!" Ino said, giving her a salute.

"Don't be a bitch, Ino! I'm trying to be organized!" Sakura snapped, nearly lunging at the blonde girl, but Lee held her back.

"Your youthfulness inspires me, Sakura! Let us go enjoy it at the festival!" Lee said, smiling.

Kiba growled and nearly hit the fuzzy-browed teenager. "Say the word 'youthful' again, Lee, and you'll be missing some teeth! I'm tired of hearing it!"

"It doesn't work." Neji said. "He'll just say it more."

----

Naruto always enjoyed festivals as a child. He'd blow half of his allowance on the games and food alone. It was something about the gathering of everyone in the village, the collective kindness, that made Naruto crave them. Well, crave everyone _except_ this one.

He pretended he didn't see them, at first. But the closer he got to the heart of Konoha, the more prominent they became. The stares, the pointing fingers, the barely-hidden whispers, they were all unnerving.

Sasuke didn't seem to notice, or he just didn't care. Naruto hoped beyond hope that it was the former. The last Uchiha just stared straight ahead, his eyes focused on the long line of games and food stands set up along the main road. Every once in a while he'd point something out to Naruto, but mostly he just stayed quiet yet close.

Throughout the festival, they would see their friends. Mostly they'd see the girls dragging the guys from booth to booth just to see if they could win the 'cutest stuffed animal ever!' except for Lee who was the one dragging an exasperated Sakura. Most of the game booths had signs posted stating no shinobi could play, especially if the games took skill and were easily rigged. Not that it mattered, as none of the Konoha 12 (plus two) was wearing their headbands at all. With the exception of Neji and Hinata, no one could really tell they were highly trained ninja and wound up getting away with winning the good prizes.

A few adults passed the couple and immediately trained their eyes elsewhere. Instantly Naruto regretted coming and almost voiced it to Sasuke, until he saw it was his stoic boyfriend they were staring at. Upon further inspection, that's who _all_ the nosy onlookers were staring at. Resisting the urge to smack himself in the head, he looked at Sasuke who was ignoring them completely. He felt relieved at their lack of concern for him, but did feel apprehension for Sasuke.

Hesitantly, he clutched Sasuke's hand and whispered, "They're not looking at me, are they?"

Sasuke turned to look at the blonde and sighed. "No. It's me they are staring at, Whiskers." Then, with a tone of uncaring, he added, "Guess I can't blame them."

Naruto didn't really know what to say, but just smirked and laid his head on Sasuke's shoulder. "Does it bother you, 'suke? Do you want to leave?"

"Nah." Sasuke replied. "Don't really care _what_ they think of me, as long as you're okay."

He was feeling a hundred times better by the time he ran across Konohamaru, who was dragging a very shy Jakken with him and his group. As the dark haired boy ran up to Naruto, he had a look on his face that made the blonde want to run and hide. That look only meant trouble when it came from Konohamaru, and sadly it was Naruto who taught it to him.

"Hey, boss! Guess what?"

Naruto almost cringed before replying, "What?"

"I perfected my _Boy-on-Boy Jutsu_ and I want to show you! And since I see Sasuke in person, I can do him better this time! Last time I still had him looking thirteen and it made it kind of a _pedophile_ jutsu…"

It was all Naruto could do to keep himself from using Konohamaru as the dart for the dart board game, but instead caught the young boy in a headlock. Risking a glance at Sasuke, he saw a delicate dark eyebrow arched.

"What is he talking about?" Sasuke asked, his voice keeping its normal cool tone.

"Um, I have no idea, really!" Naruto said, doing a horrible job at lying as he always seemed to.

"Nonsense, boss!" Konohamaru said, pushing Naruto off of him. "You remember, I know you do. When Ayame first came here and she was training with you and we came up with the idea of making Sakura's nose bleed. You remember, right?"

Moegi and Udon were shaking their heads at Konohamaru's display of run-on sentences, but this went unnoticed as the boy kept talking.

"I did that great shadow clone transformation of you and Sasuke going at it!" The boy exclaimed, puffing his chest out and looking extremely proud of my self. Naruto slapped his palm to his forehead and groaned, entirely embarrassed. Sasuke still had his eyebrow arched, nearly to his hairline. "You should have seen him, Sasuke! His face turned red and he began to stutter! Come to think of it, I saw his nose bleed I think…"

Naruto smacked him over the head. "Damn it, Konohamaru! Don't you have something _else_ to do but annoy me?"

"Nah, not really…"

"How did you _perfect_ it, Konohamaru?" Sasuke asked, smirking.

"Oh, I found this pervy book that showed how guys have sex." He said, flailing his arms around with each word. "I was way off!"

At this, Moegi and Udon grabbed him, dragging the boy away from Naruto who was looking like he'd Rasengan the poor child. Jakken followed quietly, his face resembling a tomato.

Sasuke was attempting to hold him his impending laughter, until he saw Naruto's fuming face. The usually stoic teen began to laugh, and laugh loudly.

In between fits of laughter he did manage to say something to his boyfriend, who was seriously looking like Sasuke had grown another head.

"You…he…_boy-on-boy_…" Sasuke said, bent over with his arms around his stomach.

Naruto, still looking like he'd explode, growled. "I _never_ taught him _that_!"

The dark haired teen was trying to stop laughing, as his boyfriend already looked like he'd kill him. Wrapping his arms around Naruto, he pressed a kiss to the younger teen's lips. "You may not have taught it to him, but you sure would have tried it yourself…"

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

----

When the group gathered on top of the Hokage tower, it ended being a bigger group than it started out to be.

First Kakashi showed up, plopping himself down beside Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke, who was sitting behind Naruto with the blonde leaning back against him, just smirked at the white-haired jounin.

"Need something, sensei?"

"Nah, just came to watch the fireworks." Kakashi's eye crinkled up in a smile.

Iruka soon followed, handing Naruto a small package.

"Happy birthday, Naruto. Sixteen is a very important birthday, you know."

"Iruka-sensei! Thank you!" Naruto exclaimed, hugging the chuunin tightly.

"You didn't even open it yet." Iruka chuckled. "Go on."

Inside the small package was a series of scrolls, all with different markings on the outside. Kakashi and Sasuke each arched an eyebrow at Iruka, but Naruto just gaped and started pawing through them.

"What they for, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, they're kind of an additional present to the one Hokage-sama will be giving you later. They each have some high level jutsu for you to learn."

"Whoa, really?" He breathed out, opening them slowly.

When Tsunade, followed by a 'fresh-from-the-hospital' Jiraiya finally showed up, it was time for the fireworks to start. They had just enough time to hand Naruto a large package and have the blonde jump up and down on the roof, nearly falling off.

"It's a chuunin vest, Granny! Am I a chuunin now?"

"Yeah, brat. Now sit down before you hurt yourself."

As the fireworks lit up the sky, Naruto leaned back against Sasuke and snuggled in. He didn't really care if everyone could see them, he was happy – truly happy – for once in his life.

Craning his neck to see Sasuke's face, he whispered, "I love you, Sasuke."

"I love you too, usuratonkatchi." Sasuke kissed the top of the blonde's head and smiled.

"You're staying, right? You're not going to leave me ever again?"

"Never again." Sasuke said, pressing his cheek against Naruto's. "You're stuck with me."

The blonde smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

Love ya! Thankies for reading!


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